Terrible Things
by moxiemae
Summary: Harry had always been warned that "terrible things" happen those who meddle with time. But nothing bad had happened in the last several hundred years, so he really wasn't worried. Well not until he literally runs into his younger self. Now things are a little sticky... time travel MoD!Harry
1. Chapter 1

Harry hurried down the street with his head slightly down. He had just left a meeting with an old friend and was trying to walk as quickly as possible without attracting attention. Easier said than done in Knockturn Alley. Once at the apparition point, he spun on his heel and disappeared. He landed in a familiar park near Privet Drive. Even after all these years, Harry found himself using this location as a safe place to land. Most of the time, it was no longer a park or had yet to become one. However, now it was the park of his childhood. Once he steadied himself, he once again began to hurry out of the park. He had things that needed to be done and a deadline to do them in.

Looking down at a slip of parchment, Harry looked up just in time to see a teenager in his path. But it was too late, Harry careened into the teen. At once, Harry's body was filled with a white hot fire. He barely noticed as he hit the ground. The teen must have been having a similar reaction as he was screaming and lashing out from the ground a few inches away. A great white light enveloped both Harry and the boy, and Harry knew no more.

oOo

"Good thing that we found him when we did. Who knows who else could have stumbled upon him."

"In a muggle park, though? Surely he was safer there than if this had happened somewhere else."

Harry rolled his head back and forth trying to clear the dream. It had been years since he had such a vivid dream about his childhood. Maybe it had something to do with the splitting headache he had. Groaning, he ran his hand over the face and sat up.

He looked around the room trying to get a sense of where exactly he was. He appeared to be in a makeshift bed in a living room. It was homey and warm with a fireplace and a worn sofa and overstuffed chairs. A man who Harry recognized as Alastor Moody was sitting in a wooden chair beside his bed. A plump red-headed witch was walking out of the room.

"You're up! 'Bout time, boy!"

Blinking twice, Harry tried to decipher exactly where he was. Looking around, he had a vague feeling that he had been in this room before and that he should recognize it. It seemed familiar. The bigger problem by far was why Alastor Moody was expecting a response as if he knew him. As far as Harry could remember, he had stepped into this time a few days ago at most. And he definitely hadn't become acquainted with Moody during that time.

"Er- " Harry stumbled to think of something to say, "What happened?"

"We were hoping that you could tell us that! Tonks here found you face down screaming in that park near your Aunt's home."

Slowly memories began rushing back. From apparating to the park, to running into some teenager, and then falling down. But they were blurry and at some points he was coming from two opposite directions at once.

"Do you not remember?" Moody leaned forward in his chair, looking concerned.

"Er- um, no." Harry decided that it would be best to see if others gave him a clue as to who they might think he is. Laying back down, Harry tried to shift through his memories to remember what exactly the Order of the Phoenix or Dumbledore or really anyone was doing during this time. It had been so long since he had been a student at Hogwarts that everything from that time seemed like a dream. He knew he lived it, but putting the details in any meaningful order was difficult. Who did they think he was? Where had they taken him?

"Ah, Harry glad to see that you are up." Adrenaline shot through Harry's body as he turned and saw Dumbledore walk in followed by someone who Harry thought might be Molly Weasley.

_Harry? How do they know who I am?_ Theories, each stranger then the next ran through his mind. It wasn't until he caught a slight reflection of his face in Dumbledore's glasses that true terror set in. His face was exactly as it looked when he was a teenager. Immediately, he started feeling his face, his glasses and his scar. Panic gripped his as he leaned over the edge of bed and vomited.

Dumbledore sat down in a chair besides Moody. He gave Harry a concerned look as he vanished the mess.

"That's not quite the reaction that one hopes for upon their arrival," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling.

"S-sorry," Harry was still shaking slightly from shock, "I think whatever happened left me a little unsettled."

"He says he doesn't remember any of it, Dumbledore," Moody jumped in much to Harry's relief, "Tonks isn't really sure what happened either. And any test that Poppy ran on him are inconclusive as well. He appears perfectly healthy, if not a little fatigued."

"Well perhaps with time, memories will begin to return. What is the last thing that you remember, Harry?" Dumbledore took out a chocolate frog and began unwrapping it as he waited for a response.

"I remember walking in the park," Harry hoped that this was a safe answer. Trying to focus anywhere but on Dumbledore's eyes, Harry watched him break a leg off his squirming chocolate frog. Unfortunately, this caused more nausea and he began to be sick again.

"Ah, sorry about that. Perhaps a poorly considered snack choice?" Dumbledore waited as Harry slowly moved to lay back against the makeshift bed, "However, there is quite a serious reason why I visit today. While you have been at your Aunt's long enough for the protective enchantments to continue there, with Voldemort alive it is much to dangerous to leave you here at the Weasley's. We have a safe house of sorts set up and we would like to move you there as soon as you are stable enough to be apparated. Besides a weak stomach, how do you feel?"

Harry stared at his hands that were shaking slightly. He felt dizzy and hot. He was also beginning to understand that something had happened to make them mistake him for his younger counterpart. Where the other Harry was, he didn't know. He was beginning to suspect that the younger version of himself was whom he ran into in the park. He really didn't want to spend too long thinking about what that might actually mean. But if Voldemort was looking for him, he needed to be under whatever protective enchantments Dumbledore felt were most effective. And he needed to be there soon. Especially while he was too sick to fight properly. One thing that Harry trusted Dumbledore on was knowing how to keep the Order safe.

"I think I'll be fine to apparate." Harry tried not to gag thinking about side-along apparition, "Really, I do."

Dumbledore briefly gave him a speculative look, then eyes twinkling offered Harry a hand out of the bed. Slowly Harry got out of bed, hand in hand with Dumbledore. Trying not to shake too badly, Harry took a deep breath. He was certain that Dumbledore knew he wasn't quite well enough to apparate. He could see the hidden concern in the man's face.

"Have you apparated before?"

"Of course," Harry said without hesitation. The curious look from the Headmaster was lost to Harry, who was still trying to steady himself.

"Well, best be off." And Harry felt the familiar discomfort of being squeezed through a tube. Landing in an alleyway near what Harry assumed was Grimmauld Place, Harry found himself kneeling on the ground, sick again. Understanding that the danger he must be in was significant if Dumbledore was willing to risk apparating while Harry was in this condition. He hoped that this ill feeling wasn't going to make itself permanent.

Once he finished getting sick, Dumbledore offered a hand up and pulled Harry to standing. They exited the alleyway and began making their way towards a familiar house. When they stood in front 11 Grimmauld Place and 13 Grimmauld Place, Harry feared that he was going insane. The Black's townhome was moving in and out of view, much like someone was shoving 11 and 13 Grimmauld Place together and then pulling them apart again to reveal number 13 and then quickly hide it again. Harry looked at Dumbledore to see if his face might reveal the vanishing and reappearing house. His face revealed nothing as an easy smile took over.

Dumbledore leaned down and whispered into Harry's ear, "The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Harry steadied himself on a patch of clear wall after they walked into Grimmauld Place. He had forgotten how dark the house had been before he had redone it after the war. That all felt like a lifetime or two ago. He looked around the house with genuine interest before Sirius and Remus came out to greet him.

It was clear that Grimmauld Place had belonged to a dark family, Harry remembered that much from when he was growing up. But looking around it now, he recognized the symbolic significance in the serpent door knobs and other artifacts dotting around the house. Not to mention that the house reeked of dark magic. He ideally wondered if anyone else noticed it besides, maybe, Dumbledore.

"Harry!" Sirius whispered, "Good to see you! How do you feel?" Sirius moved to give him a hug, but stopped short once he saw Harry turn a putrid shade of green.

"I've been better. Still a little unsettled..." Harry couldn't stop staring at both Remus and Sirius. At how _young _they looked. He never remembered them being so, so _young. _They were supposed to be the adults!

"Harry has a clear bill of health from Poppy; however, it seems that nausea and vomiting have persisted."

"Do we know what happened?" Sirius whispered while motioning for them to come with him into the kitchen. Harry tripped over the carpet and stumbled into Remus' back. His center of balance was off from being in a different body than he was used to.

"No, the last thing Harry remembers is being in the park. The tests that Poppy ran were inconclusive. According to her exam, nothing was wrong save fatigue." Sirius pulled out a chair and sat down at the table. Harry did as well, followed by Remus. Dumbledore remained standing. Harry noticed now that the Headmaster was avoiding his eyes and was trying to hide how ready he was to leave.

_Why is he avoiding my eyes? Does he suspect something is wrong with me? How could he not? Then why let me into Headquarters? Maybe after some sleep this will make more sense._

"-rry. Harry?" Sirius was looking at him with concern. He hadn't meant to get lost in thought like that.

"Sorry... I'm still feeling a little dazed." Harry hoped that he could get somewhere to lay down and sleep. Somewhere he didn't need to talk to people. He needed to act like a fifteen year old. But what did a fifteen year old act like? It had been so long since he'd been around anyone who was fifteen... "Maybe I could lay down and take a nap somewhere. I really don't think that I could do food at this point." Harry looked around the dank eating kitchen, willing himself not to get nauseous again.

"Sure, Harry. Come with me." Sirius and Remus exchanged worried looks and both glanced at Dumbledore. Sirius was quiet as he showed Harry upstairs and to a bedroom with two twin beds. It looked like someone else had been living in here for a while. Not really caring who he was sharing a room with as long they didn't bother him at the moment, Harry gently laid down onto the bed.

The room was dingy like the rest of the house, but had high ceilings. Thick green wallpaper was peeling from the walls and there appeared to be something living (and moving) behind it. Trying not to gag again, Harry focused on Sirius.

"If you need anything Harry, just let me know," Sirius said still looking worried.

"Thanks, will do." Harry promptly rolled over and immediately fell asleep.

oOo

When Harry woke, it was dark in his room. He rolled over as quietly as he could and saw a gangly red-head sleeping in the other twin bed. Harry sighed and pushed himself out of bed. At least he no longer felt nauseous. He was still a bit shaky when he stood but he felt more confident in his ability to walk. Leaving the room, he wandered about the upstairs, trying to find somewhere to go where he could avoid the other residents of the house.

He settled on the kitchen. Walking down the stairs and being sure to walk as quietly as possible through the area with Mrs. Black's portrait, he entered the kitchen and looked around. Not seeing any signs of life, he let out a breath that he didn't know he was holding and sat in a chair.

The kitchen was dark and dingy. Grease marks covered the counter tops and cabinets. There was a dank, musty smell that seemed to sink into your skin as well as your lungs. As much as Harry hated this house, he felt at home in an odd sort of way. Perhaps it had to do with stepping back into his old life surrounded by familiar faces.

Looking around the kitchen, Harry spotted where the tea was and got up to heat up some water. Once the water boils, Harry makes a pot of tea and brings the tea and a cup to the table. The warmth of the tea in his hand has always calmed him. Taking several deep breaths, he tries to think through what exactly he knows.

For one thing, he appears to be a teenaged Harry Potter. From what he remembers, he looks identical to what he should if he were about fifteen. Which if the year is 1995 he should be close to fifteen if not fifteen already. So, first thing is to find out exactly the day. Before everything went to hell he remembered it being mid-July. So unless he'd been unconscious for several weeks he was probably still fourteen.

The next concern was if there was another Harry running around somewhere. He doubted it. There were several theories on what happened to wizards who saw themselves during time travel. The two main schools of thought were _consumption _and _combustion. _The_ Consumption Theory _meant that the wizards both consumed each other until the wizard native to the timeline was all that remained. The _Combustion Theory _was where both wizards exploded upon first sight. While neither theory was really correct based on what Harry could remember happening, he was going to say that the _Consumption Theory _was probably at play here. Either way, neither theory has both versions of the time traveller walking away alive.

Pouring himself another cup of tea, he began to wonder if Frank had begun to worry about him. Frank was a close friend and had been for the last several hundred years... Really ever since Loreley and Bain and he had run into him all those years ago. Their first time rip... Now he was in a mess and Frank was probably going to be his best help out of this mess.

Speaking of Frank, he was expecting Harry's help with navigating Voldemort recruiting his vampire coven. Surely after several days if Harry hadn't gotten back to him Frank would start to wonder what was wrong. If Harry was anything, it was reliable. So, soon someone should be coming for him. Or maybe someone already was trying to depending on how long he had been out. Were they able to track him to the Weasley's while he was unconscious? Were vampires effected by the Fidelius Charm since they didn't have a soul? He supposed that at the very least Frank wouldn't be able to enter Grimmauld Place since he'd have to be invited in. It's never stopped him in the past from hanging around the windows though... Well if Frank couldn't find him, then Harry would have to let him know where he was.

But that would have to wait. He couldn't remember if owls were allowed in Grimmauld Place or not, but he was certain that if they were they would be watched. No need to draw attention to himself anymore than he had already. He had lived well over a thousand years after unwittingly earning the title Master of Death. What was a month or so? Once he was at Hogwarts he could use his ample spare time to contact whomever he needed.

Sighing, he tried to think if there was anything else he might need to do. Besides, of course, figuring out how to not be a teenaged Harry Potter. Coming up blank, Harry finished his tea and went back upstairs.

oOo

Harry rolled over and stretched. Getting up he noticed that the other occupant of the room was up and looking through piles of clothes for something to wear. The boy turned around and broke into a huge grin. The only thing that Harry could notice was how _young_ he looked. Not old enough to fight against Death Eaters at the end of this school year. Not old enough by a long shot.

"You're up! Bought time, we've all been going mental. Mum's been worried to pieces. Sirius has been too. What happened?"

_What happened, indeed. _Harry thought to himself. But he broke out in a grin despite his internal snark. He had missed his friends terribly throughout the years. Even though he really did not want to be a teenager again, he knew he would treasure spending time with his oldest friends again.

"I'm not exactly sure. I just remember being in the park and white hot burning and then nothing. I woke up yesterday and Dumbledore brought me here almost immediately. This house supposedly has better protective enchantments than your house did."

Harry watched Ron nervously to see how he was pulling off sounding his new age. Ron didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, so Harry assumed that he was passing so far. _People see what they expect to see. Everything's okay for now. _

"Yeah, I think it's a big mystery to everyone. Dumbledore included," Ron said while going back to routing through piles of clothes and books on the floor. It looked like his school trunk had exploded in the shared room. "What we were able to hear was that you were found in the middle of a huge scorch mark on the ground screaming face down. Tonks, er - a member of the Order, found you face down, screaming. But what was puzzling them was that it look like someone else had been burnt up in the fire with you." Ron found a shirt and tucked it under his arm as he began searching for another item of clothing. "At first, I think they thought it might have been Voldemort, because you were so close to your relatives or something. But he's apparently still around so they aren't sure who attacked you or why you ended up - "

"Harry!" At that moment Hermione came in the room and threw her arms around Harry into a suffocating hug. "We were so terribly worried! I'm so glad that you're okay - you must tell us what happened!" She spoke so fast that Harry felt like his head was spinning. Taking a step back, he had a reaction that he felt like was going to become a common occurrence. _Young, she's so young._

"He already says that he doesn't remember anything. Just walking in the park and burning." Ron cut in to let Harry catch his breath.

"Are you sure that you don't remember anything? Do you remember who you were with?" Hermione looked over at him expectantly.

_Who I was with? Did someone see _me_? I must have looked like a dark wizard, indeed, if they saw me that day. _Harry chewed on his thoughts for a moment to try to figure out how to best explain this. Or if he should explain at all.

"I don't remember anyone else being there. I don't remember much of anything from that day or anything afterwards honestly." Hermione gave him a funny look that Harry couldn't quite place. Out of habit, he reached down to twist his ring. He often played with the resurrection when he was nervous or uncomfortable. He found it oddly comforting. "What day is today? How long was I out?"

Hermione eyed his ring while answering, "It's August 12th. You were out straight through your birthday. We have the presents and cards all waiting for you once you feel up to it. I can't believe no one's told you until now. You were out for almost a month. We were terribly worried." Hermione took a deep breathe and looked like she wanted to change the subject.

"Is that ring new? I haven't seen you wear it before?" Hermione questioned softly, like Harry was still very fragile from whatever had happened to him.

"Er- no, it's a family heirloom," Harry said automatically. Missing Hermione's widened eyes, Harry continued, "Let's get some breakfast, I'm starving."

oOo

For several days, things continued about the same. Hermione and Ron flanked Harry on either side it seemed, both worried to let him out of their sight, less he spontaneously combust again. Harry on the other hand was getting increasingly antsy to get in touch with Frank. But apparently Frank was too preoccupied with other matters to realize that Harry had been missing for over a month now. Pretending to be fifteen was slowly wearing Harry down, and he wasn't sure if he was even doing a very good job at it. On the upside, however, Harry was getting steadier on his feet and the nausea had left him. Physically he was feeling as normal as one could feel considering the circumstances. But he was beginning to think that Frank had forgotten about him or the protective enchantments on the house were blocking Frank's attempts to contact him.

So one day late in the summer, it came as a surprise to Harry when a familiar owl swooped in with a small letter. Luckily only Hermione and Ron were in the kitchen at the time. Harry gingerly took the letter from the owl and opened it.

_Where the _hell _are you? Loreley's worried sick._

_~ Frank_

Harry smirked at the unsaid _And I'm worried too _that Frank would be loathe to admit. Coming back to reality, Harry looked up from the letter to see Hermione and Ron staring at him anxiously. Not really knowing what to say or how to explain this, Harry stared at them silently for a moment.

Debating the best course of action, Harry finally spoke, "Here you guys can read it. It's from someone whose been helping me learn stuff that will keep me alive."

Harry had realized over the last few days that he was pretty poor at remembering what was advanced knowledge and what was proper knowledge for someone his age. This resulted in him either sounding like an idiot or prodigy depending on the conversation. He was going to need an out sooner or later. And using Frank as a tutor would explain a lot. Hopefully.

"Like someone to train you? _Wicked!_" Ron stage whispered while taking the letter from Hermione.

"This sound dangerous Harry, how do you know that you can trust him? And who is Loreley?"

Hermione again looked concerned. It seemed like anything Harry said was bringing about some kind of disapproval.

"I would trust him with my life. He's a friend. And Loreley is someone I trust too. We're all friends. He just happens to tutor me too. He doesn't want Voldemort to win and that's enough for me." Hoping that he sounded the right amount naive and convincing, Harry took a sip of tea. "Besides, it's better than Dumbledore's doing at the moment. It's like he expects me to lay down in front of Voldemort and die."

"I'm sure he doesn't want that mate. He's never done anything but good by you." Ron was looking concerned as well, flipping the letter over as if looking for a missing clue.

"Perhaps you should tell Dumbledore about this tutor. If there's nothing to worry about then there's no reason he would be upset."

_Oh, hell no. The last thing I need is Dumbledore knowing I am involved with Francis Le Stat. _

Harry delicately took the letter back from Ron. Taking a deep breath, he tried to say something compelling. "I'll tell him. But let me be the one to do it. Please, I don't want him to hear it from someone else."

Hermione looked slightly suspicious but it soon faded to a satisfied expression. Ron seemed content with the answer as well. Harry sighed internally. This made him realize, yet again, that whatever amount of time he spent reliving his childhood was going to be monotonous.

oOo


	3. Chapter 3

Harry had pushed off his birthday celebration for as long he possibly could. It wasn't that he didn't want to have a birthday party, it was just that he didn't want that many people together to see him possibly react strangely to a gift he couldn't remember wanting or a reference he had long since forgotten.

Living as long as he had, Harry was pretty adept at adapting to strange, new situations. And he knew how to avoid interest. So he knew having a room full of people who knew his younger self well and having those people focusing all their attention on him was a bad, bad idea.

However, it seemed that everyone in the house was still so jarred from Harry's incident earlier in the summer that they were adamant for a birthday party. So here he was on August 31, standing in the dingy kitchen at Grimmauld Place surrounded by a small assortment of presents and a large snitch cake. He reached down and twisted his ring, equal parts anxious and annoyed.

Although Harry knew that he really shouldn't be anxious about acting oddly, he couldn't deny that it would be easier if he could pass as a teenager. If Dumbledore got word that something was off, it would turn very annoying, very quickly. While he couldn't die, he didn't doubt that Dumbledore could become a thorn in his side. He was also hoping that if worse came to worse that Dumbledore might be more of an ally than an enemy. But he wasn't going to hold his breath on that one.

The last thing he wanted from all this was for Dumbledore to think that he was being possessed by Tom Riddle somehow. All he wanted to do was find a nondescript way to disappear at some point and drawing any attention to himself for being unusual would be counter to his goal. Although he had no idea how long that would take as he was currently a child celebrity.

"- oh Remus should be here any minute, Sirius. Calm down. You know how he can run late." Mrs. Weasley chided Sirius as she bustled around the kitchen moving biscuits from the oven pan to a plate.

Harry looked back at Sirius and met his eyes with a smirk. This seemed to calm Sirius down a bit. Sirius leaned back in his chair with his hands laced behind his head as he replied, "Oh, of course, Molly." Which had much less bite than Harry thought it could.

"You've really outdone yourself, Mrs. Weasley. Thank you for all this." Harry felt oddly formal but still couldn't quite find the right words or attitude to feel more casual.

As he looked around the room, he saw the twins at the end of the table with their heads together having a serious looking conversation. Ginny was next to them talking to Tonks. Ron and Hermione were moving towards Harry in an effort to sit near him. And Remus just walked through the door placing a gift on the table and moved to sit near Sirius. Harry knew Arthur would be here once he got off work. Since he might be working late he told them to go on and start the party and he would join when he could.

"How are you feeling?" Hermione said as Harry sat down smoothly in his seat, folding his arms in front of himself on the table.

"Better today. I think by the time we get to Hogwarts tomorrow I should be much better." He gave her a small smile, "Everything looks great. You, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley really outdid yourselves today." Harry was growing oddly protective over both Hermione and Ginny. They reminded him so much of Rose and Lily Luna that it was difficult not to. He turned to Ron and grinned.

"So how do you think the house quidditch teams will pan out this year?" Quidditch was always a safe subject. It was something that had changed very little throughout all the years he'd been around.

"Well, I think that we definitely have a chance for the cup this year! Of course, things are up in the air with ..." Harry listened to Ron go on about who was the best pick for chaser out of who he thought would try out. Harry nodded and make appropriate declarations as he allowed his mind to wander. This continued until Mrs. Weasley called everyone around the table to sing to Harry.

Harry was forced to stand as an off-key chorus slogged through a round of Happy Birthday Harry, complete with Fred and George singing to the tune of a slow funeral march. Once Fred and George had finished Mrs. Weasley began cutting and serving the cake.

"Go on, Harry. Start on your presents," Sirius said gently nudging a rather flat package towards Harry.

Harry picked up this flat package and gingerly unwrapped it. He recognized it immediately. "It's not just a mirror Harry. I have its twin mirror. If you hold it and say my name, then I'll be able to talk with you. I figured that this would be useful in case something comes up while you're at Hogwarts."

Harry broke into a wide grin. If Hogwarts was as boring as he feared it might be, it might be interesting to pick apart how this mirror worked one afternoon, "Thanks, it's brilliant!"

Harry fumbled through the rest of his gifts without too much trouble. Remus had gotten him a nice quill and ink set, Tonks gave him a wand holster. The twins had given him a singing card with a very small 'IOU any prank supplies of your choice.' Ron had gotten him a broomstick servicing kit. And Hermione had gotten him a book on defensive spells.

By the end of the party, everyone was full and sluggish. Harry felt relief leaving the room that maybe he hadn't bullocked it up too bad. Harry had always felt comfortable in his ability to adapt, but usually, those who he was around didn't have any preconceived notions of who Harry was supposed to be. Hopefully blending in as Harry Potter would become easier as time went on. Or at least until he found out how to not be a teenager anymore. The real work on solving his dilemma would begin once he got to Hogwarts.

oOo

Harry opened his eyes from feigning sleep and listened to the room around him. Ron was snoring softly and had been for some time now. Harry slowly rolled over and walked quietly out of the room. He went down the stairs slowly as not to wake anyone. Finally, he made it into the kitchen without attracting any attention. He slid a back window open and looked for the owl that had been patiently sitting in a tree outside. Harry let out a small whistle and the owl came towards him and dropped a letter in his hands before flying off. Harry broke the wax seal and opened the letter.

_Harry,_

_I have to say that I agree with you. As frustrating as this situation must be, for now, it is best that you stay where you are and continue on as if you are a fifteen-year-old Harry Potter. I agree that Dumbledore would move mountains to get you back if he believed you to be kidnapped or manipulated into leaving. _

_It's not that we couldn't hide you, but the effort may not be worth it quite yet. Not to mention that you are technically not legally able to carry a wand until you pass your OWLs. Which would be easily remedied by creating documents for you if it weren't for the fact that everyone knows you have not taken nor should you be prepared to have taken your OWLs before now. Being stuck as a child celebrity is giving us unusual obstacles to overcome. Give us a little time to do research into your situation on our end and you do research at Hogwarts. We'll get together and hash everything out to see if we can't get this corrected as quickly as possible. _

_ \- Frank_

_PS Loreley will probably be visiting you once you get out from under the Fidelius Charm. So be on the lookout for her, she's chomping at the bit to talk to you._

Harry let out a long, slow sigh. He knew that Frank would most likely agree with his assessment that he should stay put until they knew more information about Harry's condition. He already had the current Dark Lord out for his head, he didn't need Albus Dumbledore and the Order hunting him too. Plus, the Hogwarts library would be an excellent resource. It was a shame that he hadn't been able to utilize the Black Family Library, but he felt that doing so would have looked too suspicious. Especially considering the titles that he would need to read. Not to say that he wouldn't need to be careful at Hogwarts too. But he would be one of many there as opposed to one of a few at Grimmauld Place. Sighing again, Harry pocketed the letter. Harry went to move but stopped short as he heard footsteps. Sirius walked into the kitchen looking like he hadn't gotten any sleep that night either.

"Harry," Sirius spoke softly as he moved towards the tea kettle on the stove, "can't sleep either?"

Truth be told Harry was feeling uneasy over Hogwarts. Even if he hadn't needed to stay up to get a letter tonight, he doubted that he would be asleep. In all honesty, Harry didn't remember too much about his fifth year at Hogwarts other than Sirius dying and the school year itself being very rough. Reliving it was not on the top of his to-do list, but here he is.

"No, thought I might get some tea. Got distracted. Why are you up?" Harry sat at the table as Sirius got teacups and sugar.

"Ah, just tired of being here I think. Classic insomnia. I've had it since I've been out of Azkaban. You would think I could sleep so the time would go faster, but no, my body wants me conscious for all of this." He laughed bitterly as he poured the water into a teapot. "What about you, what's keeping you up?"

"I don't really know. I just can't sleep." Harry put some sugar in his cup and ran his finger around the mouth of the cup ideally. Sirius put the teapot on the table and Harry reached for it and poured himself a cup. He stared down at the table as he stirred his sugar in.

"Loo, Harry, I know that it must be hard to talk about. What happened with Cedric and Voldemort, but you know that I'm here to listen if you ever need anything. It's one reason why I gave you that mirror." He paused, likely gauging Harry's reaction. "James and I shared those mirrors so we could talk during detentions if we were in different places. I guess this is probably a better use for them." Sirius grinned a little sheepishly, forcing a small smile out of Harry. "There we are, much better. And you know that you don't have to go on being such a serious, mini-adult, right? I know Ron and Hermione would listen, too. Just don't bottle it up. Does bad things to you. That I remember from the first war."

Harry didn't really know what to say. Truth be told he would love to talk about his experience with someone, but Harry really didn't think it would be wise to share with Sirius. And it sounded like if he could just hold off a little longer Loreley would be able to talk. She was the closest thing that he had ever had to a sister, so sharing with her would probably be helpful. It definitely wouldn't be about Voldemort and Cedric though.

"Thanks Sirius. I think I may talk to you guys about it soon. I'm just not ready right now, it's just still too fresh to relive." With that, Harry finished his tea off and headed to bed.

oOo

The next morning was a busy one with everyone running around getting ready to leave. A missing shoe here, misplaced books there caused much anxiety with Mrs. Weasley, who was flitting around everyone making sure everyone was ready to go. Harry was reminded of herding his own children to leave for Hogwarts. For this very reason, he had packed completely the night before. Now he was sitting on his trunk by the door waiting for the others.

"Well, now that I have Crookshanks I'm ready to go. Did you pack early Harry?" Hermione had set her trunk down beside him and sat down on top of it, next to her Crookshanks cage.

"I did. Thought I'd be prepared this year." Harry smiled gently at her and peered at her cat through the cage door. "He doesn't seem too happy to be going, does he?"

Hermione looked down at the cat thoughtfully, "No, I suppose he doesn't. He'll be glad once we get there, he just doesn't know where he's going."

Ginny came up behind them followed by Ron. They all chatted about how they were going to get to Kings Cross. Harry joined in on the speculation, still being fuzzing on the exact means of transport this year himself.

"I hope we take a car like Dad's old one. As long as it's not walking I'm good," Ron was toying with his prefects badge as he spoke, obviously proud of his achievement. Harry had forgotten this detail, but was very glad that on top of everything else _he _wasn't a prefect.

Finally, the twins were ready and everyone headed out. Sirius tagged along in his dog form, much to Mrs. Weasley's chagrin. Harry was happy for him to get out. He wondered if there wasn't a way to get Sirius out without causing trouble with Dumbledore or putting him in danger. That was something Harry planned on thinking about.

Once they made it to the train station and were hurried on the train, Harry sat down in a compartment with Ginny as Ron and Hermione had prefect duty. The Weasley's rush to get everyone on the train reminded Harry yet again of the danger lurking for everyone from Voldemort.

What would Harry do this time? Surely he wouldn't need to defeat him again. If he left once he figured out how to reverse whatever had happened to him, surely someone else would step up to the plate. Like Dumbledore. Or any adult. Harry could now see how insane it was to have children fighting a Dark Lord. But what if he left and Voldemort took over? Would he be able to live with the guilt? It wasn't as if he could actually die, and if Voldemort stayed immortal Harry would have to deal with him eventually. He'd rather Voldemort not take over in the first place. Maybe it would be better to deal with him earlier than later? Or at least pass on the information on how to make him mortal so that he could be killed? As thoughts and plans swirled through Harry's head, he fell asleep to the gentle lull of the train.

oOo

Harry slept through the entirety of the train ride. The carriage ride into the school had been a rather dull affair. Harry made small talk with Luna, Ginny, Neville, Ron and Hermione before walking the remaining way to the castle. Harry felt tired. It wasn't so much that making conversation was difficult, but Harry's responses were often met with blank looks from his friends. It frustrated Harry because he wasn't sure what to fix about his responses. To him, they sounded age appropriate and as much in character for himself as he could manage. But still, he was sure that his friends thought something was off.

Finally relieved when he got to the Great Hall, Harry made for the Gryffindor table hoping for some relief to the awkward conversations from the carriage ride. Looking up at the ceiling to the Great Hall, he was hit with an unexpected, powerful wave of nostalgia. _He was home!_ This was his first home, his real home. He was here with his _first_ friends, his_ real_ friends. Harry hadn't anticipated this type of response to walking back into Hogwarts as a student. He looked around the Hall and felt warmth swell up inside him. He let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding and felt relief. Any of the unease or apprehension that he had felt prior to arriving in the Great Hall seemed to fade away. It was good to be back.

Playing with his steak knife ideally, Harry wondered if his friends and he would have some kind of adventure this year. Would they get into trouble? Maybe his time travel would create a new mystery for them to solve like old times. _Well like current times, really, _thought Harry. A chance to relive Hogwarts with his friends, maybe this wouldn't be as bad as he had feared?

His face broke into a big grin and he turned to Ron, "So what do you think this year will bring?"

"Dunno, where's Hagrid do you reckon?" Harry had almost forgotten about Hagrid. He scanned the professors table and saw that he was indeed missing. He also saw a woman in all pink with a face like a toad. _Umbridge. _Hoping to ignore her for as long as possible, Harry turned back to Ron.

"I don't know, I'm sure we'll hear something eventually. Maybe he's been helping Dumbledore?" That sounded right to Harry, hadn't Hagrid done something with the giants?

Hermione made a motion for Harry to speak softer as Ron and Hermione exchanged nervous glances.

As the food appeared and everyone began to eat, Ron and Hermione got into a debate about preparing for the OWLs. Harry was still absentmindedly playing with his steak knife, ignoring the food around him.

"Ron, seriously all I mean is that we need to start ear-" Hermione stopped and stared at Harry's knife. It was facing point down on the table, hovering just a little so that the point and the table did not touch. Harry absentmindedly had his hand over the top of the handle make the knife spin clockwise and counterclockwise at will. "Where did you learn how to do that?" Hermione motioned towards the knife.

This effectively snapped Harry out of his thoughts and the knife fell against the table. Harry looked up rather sheepishly and gave a small grin. "It's really not that hard. Parlor trick, really. I can show you if you want?"

Hermione looked as if she wanted to say something, but decided against it. Ron and Hermione exchanged unreadable looks before glancing around to see if anyone was paying attention to this exchange. "Is this something that, well that _Frank,"_ she was speaking in a low hushed tone, "taught you?" Both her and Ron were staring intently at Harry. Why they couldn't see that this _was _really a parlor trick was beyond Harry.

"Er... kind of. I mean yes, but it's really simple. I will show you sometime, okay? You'll both pick it up quickly, I'm sure of it."

"Okay," said Hermione hesitantly, "but for now let's stop it. No need to draw more attention to yourself."

oOo

After a long day of traveling and the Hogwarts welcome feast, Harry was very glad to be in his dorm room with everyone else asleep. _Quiet, blessed quiet. _As much as Harry enjoyed children and loved being back at Hogwarts, being in the middle of a thousand of them was an exhaustive experience.

It was then that Harry felt the temperature in the room drop. He grinned and sat up in his bed cross legged. A misty black shape slowly moved through the curtains around his bed, bringing even colder air with it. Steadily the shape began to appear more solid until it dissolved away to reveal a girl of about fifteen. She had long curly black hair, Harry's bright green eyes and his familiar features. They would be near identical if Harry had been born a girl. Harry's grin got even bigger as he realized that she too was fifteen.

"Loreley," Harry hissed, "when I became fifteen, did your age change too?"

"Yes, it was quite alarming at first." She sniffed and shot an annoyed look his way "Then we realized that something must have happened to you. But we had no idea what." She was settling herself into the bed, sitting cross legged across from Harry. "Since we found out what happened, I believe that it's closely related to the magic that goes along with the Master of Death curse. Since the binding involved with the curse requires that I resemble you exactly, I assume that it means that I must appear the same age as you as well." Loreley sighed, obviously not happy with being stuck as a teenager either.

"So am I going to be stuck at fifteen?" This was not a possibility Harry had thought of until just now. When he had collected the Hallows at eighteen and came back from the dead, Harry had cemented his place as Master of Death. He had also stopped aging at eighteen though it took him years to figure it all out.

"Ah, I don't think so. You see there have been some complications with whatever happened to you." She picked at her nails, not meeting Harry's eyes, "I can see you again."

Harry froze. Years after he had become Master of Death, Death (or Loreley as she preferred to be called) had explained exactly what that meant. Complete mastery of the Deathly Hallows, a curse from Fate.

To master the wand meant mastery of power, to master the cloak meant mastery of immortality, and to master the stone meant mastery of resurrection. So if Death was able to see Harry's soul once again, then he was no longer hiding from death as far as his mortality was concerned. So he should be able to die...

"So am I no longer your master? Why are you fifteen if that's the case?" Nervous energy welled up in Harry. Maybe he could die...

"I am not sure about why I am fifteen. The best guess we have is that I changed when you changed and then something happened to you in the new body to void the curse. Or at least the part of the curse involving immortality and the cloak." She ran a hand through her hair and sighed, "But it seems that your body now is more of the younger version of yourself than your old body so, yes you appear to be mortal. At least as far as I can tell and I am the expert on mortality last time I checked."

She paused as Ron rolled over in his bed and waited to speak until Ron resumed snoring. "And I am a teenager. There is still enough of me bound to you through the curse to have that affect. You may find that you have some of your masteries as my Master, but not all. I don't really know. This is unprecedented. You're the only one who's ever been Master of Death and we don't even know fully what happened to you at the park."

Harry ran a hand through his hair. This could be good. He could die, finally. Maybe being here was more of a blessing than a curse, to spend his last days with his oldest friends and then pass on with them when the time came? Or maybe it was another curse from Fate aimed to punish him by reliving puberty again before leading him to his death? "Have you or Frank got any ideas as to what happened? I know that it hasn't been safe to write really. I thought that is sounded like consumption theory though, but I wasn't sure."

"We don't really have access to a large library like you do here. We are going off of books we already have which aren't heavy in time travel theory. And we don't want to borrow anything for obvious reasons. So while you are here, utilize the library and bounce theories off of us once you're gotten some reading done. Really Bain would be more help than me or Frank."

"Where is Bain?" Harry hadn't seen him since Bain opened this last time rip that they walked through into 1995.

"Oh, you know my brother. He's probably traveling across Europe jumping from one party to the next. Just killing time. He probably doesn't want to be found right now, but I am trying to track him down. He'll slip up one day, he always does."

"Well, what about - " Harry was cut off mid sentence by Ron.

"Harry, who are you talking to?" Ron asked blearily from his bed.

"No one Ron, you must have been dreaming. Go back to sleep." But when Harry turned around Loreley was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

Looking down, Harry saw a boy of what looked to be fifteen laying on the ground, almost completely covered by the mist. He had messy black hair and his glasses lay askew across his face. The boy seemed to be taking a nap in the middle of the field. Harry was strongly reminded of one of his grandsons who used to fall asleep in the oddest of places.

Looking around Harry could see that he was standing in a field that stretched out as far as the eye could see. A heavy mist lay low around the surrounding area, hiding much of the landscape from view. Harry shivered and looked around, trying to orient himself.

Approaching the child, Harry knelt down and gently shook him. The boy startled awake and instinctively crawled backward several feet, away from Harry.

"Who-who are you?" The boy stopped and seemed to regain his composure, "What happened to me. Why are you in control?"

Harry rubbed a hand down his face and took a moment to try and figure out the best answer to that question.

"I am Harry Potter. And I don't know." The boy looked skeptical and less than pleased. Harry made a move to comfort the boy but suddenly, reality began to swirl and dissolve.

The next thing Harry knew, his eyes were open staring at the sunlight streaming across the ceiling in the Gryffindor dorm. He had a vague feeling that he'd forgotten something important, but he wasn't sure what.

oOo

Clutching his new schedule in his hand, Harry swallowed down another particularly intense wave of fear. The urge to run to someone, anyone who could help was strong. Trying to steady his breath, Harry tried to pay attention to the conversation he was supposed to be having with Hermione and Ron. A strong pang of sadness came through when he looked at Hermione, so Harry looked down at his schedule again trying to steady himself. It would do no good to get emotional here. _Especially when I don't even know why I'm feeling this way. Damn puberty. _

"- and I am quite excited to start on our charms work for this year. It looks like we'll be starting with banishing charms -" Harry blocked out Hermione for what felt like the hundredth time since breakfast. He stole a glance at Ron, who met his eyes and gave Harry a half smile. Ron looked like he hadn't gotten used to sleeping in the dorm yet, with shadows under his eyes and a seemingly constant yawning. _Well, that makes two of us. _

Once they reached the classroom, Harry sat down and prepared himself mentally for what he was expecting to be an hour and a half of excruciating boredom. He sighed and pulled out his parchment and his charms book. How he was going to pretend to learn simple spells all day, every day was beyond him. _If I pull this off, I should get some kind of acting award. _

As Flitwick stood at the front of the class and made some typical beginning of the year announcements, Harry felt his attention start to drift. When he was finally able to force himself to pay attention, other students had already begun trying out the spell for the day. Trying to move slowly, so that he wouldn't be the first to banish his cushion, Harry went and picked up a cushion to try to banish.

Harry looked around and saw that Hermione had already successfully banished her cushion, so he felt that it was safe to start 'attempting' to banish his. With an overstated, broad sweep of his wand, Harry uttered, _"Depulso." _

With a deafening _crack!_ the cushion exploded violently, flinging bits of stuffing and cloth everywhere. The desk had somehow caught on fire and was now fully consumed with angry orange flames. Harry looked down dumbly at his wand wondering what exactly had gone wrong. He had thought that he had put just enough power into his spell to cause the pillow to move a few inches away from him, but when he performed his spelled it felt like his magic choked or was pulled back inside him. Staring in disbelief Harry felt a satisfaction at the burning cushion that he was sure wasn't his own.

"Now Mister Potter, what happened?" Flitwick had extinguished the now badly charred desk. "Explosions and fires are not usually seen by one practicing the banishing charm."

Harry felt like telling Flitwick that he was very well aware that it wasn't normal, but he bit the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from saying anything nasty.

"I-I have no idea, sir," Harry shuffled his feet in what he hoped was a sheepish gesture.

"Very well, try again. But with maybe a little less intent this time." Flitwick walked over to another student that was having trouble and Harry went to grab another cushion.

Harry again went and grabbed a cushion. This time, he actually performed the spell as he normally would, _"Depulso!"_

BANG! Now the whole class turned and ducked as the cushion exploded with a crack and the desk that it was sitting on right along with it. Instinctively, Harry tried to pull up a shielding charm, which only led to a rush of wind and another loud CRACK! though luckily the shielding charm did not catch anything else on fire.

Now the whole class was staring at Harry. Harry ran a hand over his face while Flitwick hurried around the room banishing bits of the desk and checking on the students to make sure everyone was okay from the exploding desk. Again Harry felt a sense of satisfaction and slight amusement.

"Everyone get back to work!" Flitwick said ushering students back to their cushions. "Now Mister Potter," Flitwick walked towards him, "When is the last time you successfully cast a spell with your wand?"

Harry looked down at the offending wand with a grimace, "Not since last year. I guess the Fourth Task, maybe a little after. I can't remember."

Flitwick seemed to be considering something for a moment, "Here try again, but this time put almost no intent behind it."

Harry did another broad sweep and put the smallest amount of intent that he could muster, _"Depulso."_ Harry felt his magic move oddly inside him again and the cushion inched towards the back of the desk and he could see the seams of the cushion breaking in places and some stuffing coming through.

"Curious," Flitwick poked the pillow with his wand a few times and then looked at Harry, "it is very rare for a wand to unchoose its wizard so to speak. It usually only happens after a radical life change, like a divorce or death of a family member. And that may not be the case with your wand, but it does look similar." Flitwick seemed to be looking for something in Harry's face before he continued in a quieter tone, "However, what you went through at the end of last year could have triggered it. I would say continue in your other classes through this week and if you still are experiencing similar problems speak to Professor McGonagall. I will inform your other professors at the staff meeting tonight."

Harry felt a sudden urge to laugh, like he was making progress - accomplishing something great after being stuck for so long! A smirk broke out on his face despite himself but Harry fought it down so as not to look like some kind of maniac grinning at his explosive wand.

oOo

"- Harry have you figured out what's going on with your wand?" Harry looked down at his wand and tried to think of what to say. To say Harry's week had been trying would be a drastic understatement. Every class that required practical wand work had gone in the same vein as his first charms class. Whatever spell he tried resulted in the target being incinerated and completely blown to bits or some combination of both unless he put hardly any intent in the spell.

The only magic that Harry felt was reliable was the small amount of wandless magic he could do. But that magic was more for convenience only and was not going to help him protect himself in a fight. Leaving the castle now looked out of the question until Harry figured out why his wand had such a violent reaction to him. Harry also had his suspicions that the Elder wand would still work fine for him, but he didn't dare entertain the thought of stealing the wand from Dumbledore before he was surer.

"I'm not really sure, I mean I haven't used magic since the graveyard really, so maybe something with Voldemort's resurrection tampered with my magic. He did use my blood after all."

Harry glanced at Hermione who looked a little anxious and Ron who looked like he would rather be anywhere else than walking to Potions.

"When are you going to McGonagall? Maybe she could help you. After you incinerated that pineapple in her class she seemed pretty concerned." Harry got the distinct impression that Hermione was speaking to him in the same way she would a small child or a frightened animal. He wondered if she was still angry over her jumper getting burnt in Transfiguration.

"I'm going to give it another day or so, see if I can't practice some spells from last year to see what's wrong."

Hermione looked like she wanted to say how much she disagreed, but once inside the potions classroom with Snape they all fell silent. Ron sat down at a table and put his head down like he was going to take a nap before class started.

Harry sat down and zoned out as was becoming his habit in all his classes. Once Snape was done introducing the Antidote to Common Poisons, Harry went to get his ingredients and began brewing. He was partnered with Ron, so Harry naturally took the lead and instructed Ron on exactly how to prepare the ingredients.

"No, no, look just a pinch of unicorn hair." Harry showed Ron what to do by adding a small amount of unicorn hair to the brew and stirred it twice. He was strongly reminded of tutoring his son Al in potions during summer holiday.

Feeling eyes on him, he turned around and saw Hermione staring. He was a little further along than her in the brewing process. He felt eyes on him again, and turned to see Snape stare and then turn away slowly.

Harry's frustration was growing. All potions were at this level were following the instructions on the board, if you could read, you could make a potion in theory. He didn't really know how to be bad at potions even outside of just not following directions. It was something that he had picked up over the years and had become a reflex to him. A part of him felt satisfied that he was showing such skill in potions as if it would lead to a good outcome later on. Harry decided to embrace this feeling and try not to worry too much. He could easily fix this by letting Ron do more of the potion.

The class continued to drag by as Harry let a reluctant Ron do more of the potion making than he did so as to make the end result more authentic looking. Snape seemed to have taken an interest in how everyone was doing on Harry's side of the room and in Harry's potion in particular. Even with Snape breathing down their necks the damage was already done, by the end of the class their potion samples were still the best out of the entire class. Snape took the sample from Harry with a completely blank face and a presumably shielded mind if Harry was to judge by the blank look in his eyes. Sighing, Harry grabbed his things and prayed that his weekend would not be as exciting as his first week back.

oOo

He slowly made his way to the library. Walking in, he stared at all the shelves trying to not become overwhelmed by the task that lie ahead of himself. What was his goal, really? He knew that he could not go forward in time by anything that was made by wizards, he could only travel backward.

Could he travel back and run into his past self and get his older body back? Would his consciousness remain or that of his counterpart? And the issue with his wand not working properly for him, was that due to whatever happened to him that day, or is it because the wand no longer recognized him as its master? He last used that wand several hundred years ago before it was destroyed in a duel. Had he really changed that much?

Deciding that it was best to start with figuring out his wand problem, Harry headed towards the small section on wand lore. And that was where Hermione found him several hours later, with all five books that the Hogwarts library had on wand lore scattered about the table. He had several roles of parchments spread out in front of his as well making meticulous notes from one of the books that were currently in front of him. Hermione cleared her throat and Harry jumped, startled out of his own world of research.

"This wasn't where I expected to find you," Hermione pulled out an empty chair and sat down by Harry. She picked up one of the closed books beside Harry and began thumbing through it. "You know that I'm sure Professor McGonagall or even the Headmaster would be willing to help you with your wand. You don't have to do it alone, you know."

"Thanks, Hermione, but I really think it's best I do this on my own." From the research he'd completed so far, it looked like typical wand lore wasn't going to apply to his situation the way it would to someone who didn't hold the title Master of Death or partial Master of Death, whatever it was he was now.

"But in order to pass your classes, you will have to have a working wand. You can't just keep incinerating everything and expect to do well." Harry felt that she had a point. Sighing, he closed the book that he was searching through.

"Perhaps I could get another wand? Do you think they would let me go get one? Or maybe they have some extras lying around somewhere?" Even in a worst-case scenario where the only wand that would work for him was the Elder wand, maybe he could find something that didn't blow things up.

Hermione looked pleased that he was taking her opinion to heart, "Let's go talk to McGonagall. It's Saturday so she shouldn't be too busy."

Harry gathered his parchment, carefully rolling it and placing it in his bag. He and Hermione both gathered up the books and returned them to their proper shelves. Harry was glad now that he'd chosen to research his wand problem instead of his time travel problem. He would need to come back to the library after curfew to look up any information on time travel.

As they walked out of the library and continued down the corridors heading to McGonagall's office, they continued their conversation.

"How early did you wake up this morning? I was up at seven and didn't see you in the Great Hall," Hermione said.

"I couldn't sleep. I've been having weird dreams that I just can't seem to remember. All I know is that after them I can't sleep anymore."

At this, Hermione's eyebrows shot up and her mouth opened as if she wanted to say something but didn't quite know what.

"What do you mean?" And then in a more hushed tone, Hermione continued, "Is it about You-Know-Who?"

Harry paused for a minute. Up until now, he had really been too preoccupied with his current situation to give Voldemort too much thought. But he should be having dreams of Voldemort if Voldemort was having any sort of strong emotion. And he would remember those dreams. So what was different? He was still a Horcrux, wasn't he?

"No, I haven't had a dream about Voldemort since this summer." It was technically the truth, so Harry didn't suppose he was lying.

As they rounded another corner and went up a flight of stairs, Hermione looked back at him. "I know that you went through a lot at the end of last year Harry, but I'm here whenever you want to talk about it," Hermione's eyes softened, "I can't say that I know what it's like to experience what you went through but talking about it is supposed to help."

Harry frowned as he imagined Hermione's face if he actually told her what really happened. He felt an alien feeling in him, urging him to tell Hermione what really happened. He pushed it down.

"Really, I'm okay. I swear." Harry did his best to put on a convincing face.

"Have you talked with Frank or Loreley about it?"

Harry blanched - had he let them read that letter? "We talked about it a lot this summer. Learning new stuff really helped me move past it. I felt more in control."

"Did your wand work for you then?"

"I didn't use my wand," Harry improvised smoothly, "They had an extra wand that wasn't registered with the ministry so I couldn't get in trouble."

Hermione made a humming noise like she'd just been proven right about something. They turned another corner and arrived at Professor McGonagall's door. Hermione knocked several times. The door opened suddenly and Professor McGonagall stared down at both of them.

"And to what do I owe this pleasure?" She was making a stern face that Harry remembered so well, but he could see her mostly hidden affection for them behind it.

"I'm still having trouble with my wand Professor."

McGonagall led them into her office and motioned for them to take a seat. She sat behind her desk and let Harry continue speaking.

"I'm not sure what to do about my wand, I thought maybe trying a different wand would help."

"Yes, I remember your last Transfiguration class well." She had a faint smile on her lips, "While I cannot take you to Diagon Alley to get another wand, I do have some spare wands that have collected at Hogwarts over the years. The Headmaster gave them to me when he heard about your problem. Perhaps you could find one from our collection to use until you can buy another at Christmas holiday."

McGonagall reached down and pulled out a drawer at the bottom of her desk and brought out a cloth bag of old wands and handed them to Harry.

"Here, try them out."

Harry gingerly took the bag and pulled out the wands setting them all on McGonagall's desk. He looked them over skeptically and then put his hand out and ran it just above the wands to see if any of them felt right. None of them did. Frowning, Harry moved his hand over them again, trying to find one that felt the least wrong. Settling on one with dark wood, he carefully picked it up and gave a small flick at a paperweight on the edge of McGonagall's desk. The paperweight shuffled from side to side but did not levitate like he had wanted. However, the fact that nothing blew up was an improvement in and of itself. Something inside him felt disappointed despite himself.

"I'll take this one. It seems to be the best fit." Harry said to a wide-eyed Hermione and an expressionless McGonagall.

oOo

Severus and Nott stood at the front of an abandoned looking, boarded-up building in the slums of London. Only the building wasn't abandoned, though no one passing by would have guessed. Severus stole a glance at Nott and they both grimaced. No one wanted the job of negotiating with the vampires. Unfortunately, Dumbledore had been insistent that he volunteer if given the opportunity to speak with the vampires. So here he was.

Severus raised his hand and knocked repeatedly on the front door. Instinctually, his hand brushed over the emergency portkey from the Dark Lord that he wore around his neck and under his robes. Hopefully, he wouldn't need it during this meeting. Almost immediately the door swung open and a very pale boy of no more than eighteen stepped forward. He had lank blonde hair that was almost as pale as his skin and a dangerous smile with unnatural blue eyes. Severus tried not to show his unease as he noticed the boys fangs.

"Come right this way, Le Stat is already waiting for you." The vampire then turned his back to the two Death Eaters, as though he had not a care in the world of a possible attack, and began leading them down a darkened hall. Severus recognized the insult for what it was.

As they walked down the dimly lit hall, where the only light was from an occasional bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling, Severus hoped that they didn't need to spend too long here. At the thought of how quickly something could go wrong with the negotiations, Severus shivered despite himself. The last Death Eaters who had come for negotiations had made little progress in convincing Le Stat of anything. It was odd considering how lucky the Dark Lord had become by convincing dark creatures and some not-so-dark creatures to join his side in the last month and a half.

They were led into a room with much better lighting, which Severus was thankful for. This room looked like it was strictly for business with its rich office furnishings. There was a large desk like table near the back where a man who must be Le Stat was seated. There was a second chair beside him that was empty and Severus briefly wondered who it was for. There were two rather uncomfortable looking wooden chairs that were placed in front of the large desk. Le Stat clearly did not intend to entertain them for long.

Le Stat was a young, muscular looking man of about eighteen (although Snape knew he was much, much older), with rich, dark hair and dark eyes. He was smirking at the Death Eaters obvious discomfort. He stood as they were led to the two chairs and Severus was surprised to see him wearing Muggle clothes of dark denim and an expensive looking black t-shirt that offset with his pale white skin. Severus didn't really know what he had been expecting Le Stat to look like, but it definitely wasn't this.

"Come in, come in. Sit down. Make yourselves comfortable." At this Le Stat's eyes seemed to be dancing with laughter, "I am Francis Le Stat."

"Severus Snape and this is Medwick Nott." Both men nodded towards Le Stat and took a seat.

"We are waiting on one more."

"We didn't realize that we would be meeting with anyone other than you tonight." Nott looked slightly concerned at this change of events.

"Well a friend of mine is in town, so I'd hate to be rude and not invite her." Le Stat sat back and stretched back in his much more comfortable chair, "She'll be here shortly."

A door behind Le Stat opened and the room was suddenly filled with the strong odor of bleach. Clearly, this affected Le Stat much more than the two Death Eaters as he lost his composure and made a face.

Before anyone could say anything, a young girl of what looked like fifteen or sixteen walked out. She had, quite literally, bleach blonde hair and white eyebrows that only served to accentuate her large green eyes. Severus wondered what on earth had prompted this girl to bleach her hair white. It looked horrible. He swallowed to try not to gag at the strong odor that was waffling through the room.

Le Stat was to first to speak, "What in Dracula's name did you do?!" His eyes were watering and Severus was not jealous of his heightened senses in this situation.

"Did my hair. Don't you like it?" The girl sat down in the empty chair grinning and winked at Severus and Nott. He didn't see any fangs on her, so he assumed she was human. Which was interesting. What was a human doing beside Le Stat? And a young girl at that.

"You reek of bleach!"

Silently hoping that they would either get on with the meeting or both kill each other, Severus tried to keep his face as impassive as possible.

"Right, well why don't we get this meeting started so that no one has to stay near this smell longer than necessary." Le Stat glared at the girl and then turned to Nott and Severus.

"We are issuing you and your coven and any allies you might have," Severus gave a slight nod to the girl seated beside Le Stat, "a formal invitation to join the Dark Lord. He is offering an unlimited supply of Muggles for your clan to feed on as well as expanded hunting territory and free access to any Muggle-borns to feed on as well.

"In the last month and half alone we have persuaded the giants, almost all the werewolf clans in the United Kingdom and are working on finalizing negotiations with several other groups including several Veela clans. We are close to rising up and regaining what we dark wizards and dark creatures have had taken from us for years."

The girl and Le Stat exchanged a meaningful glance. Then Le Stat sat there seemed to be thinking things over. But the girl spoke first, judging by her face, she was not impressed.

"I'm sorry, but who are you exactly?"

"Severus Snape and Medwick Nott." Severus answered the girl who looked mentally unstable at best with her bleached hair and large laughing eyes. She was reminding him strongly of a demented Lily Evans with white hair. There was something about the curve of her smile or maybe it was the green eyes. He wasn't quite sure, but it made him want to finish up the Dark Lord's business and leave here all the more.

"Severus Snape, Severus Snape. Where have I heard that name?" She looked like she knew exactly where she'd heard that name. "You don't mind if I smoke do you?" The girl pulled out a pack of cigarettes and took out a lumpy cigarette and lit it off a flame from her index finger.

Severus swallowed as she took in a deep inhale and blew a cloud of smoke in both his and Nott's face before continuing.

"I've heard rumor that you serve two Lord's."

Severus felt a growing of panic at those words. He looked over to Nott who had turned pale and was fingering his wand nervously.

"Rumors, I've found are usually just that, rumors." Severus pushed his panic behind his occmulency shields, "While I do serve the Dark Lord as a spy to Albus Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix, I do not hold any true loyalty to Dumbledore. My true allegiance has been and always will be with the Dark Lord." Severus drew a breath, trying to fight his lightheadedness from the bleach odor and the smoke.

Le Stat decided that now was his time to ask questions, "What I want to know is why your Lord Voldemort would send in a potential spy for Dumbledore into my coven?" Trying not to show the even greater panic that was now bubbling up inside of him, Severus paid no mind to the increasing cigarette smoke and bleach aroma waffling around him and focus on the task at hand.

"Well that is common ground that I believe we can agree upon," Nott took the opportunity to speak up, "We can both agree that the downfall of Albus Dumbledore would be welcome."

"We want Dumbledore alive for now, as annoying as the man may be." The girl took another drag on her cigarette, exhaling it again in their faces, "It seems like this Dark Lord of yours clearly isn't someone you'd stop for at a crosswalk."

Severus tried not to show his surprise at the bizarre Muggle reference.

"Besides we already have someone in his little Order keeping us informed. Dumbledore has a hairy little problem, wouldn't you think Frank?" She cackled at her own joke, "Now, what to do with you two?"

As she continued laughing, Severus suddenly realized how dizzy he was. He looked to Nott, who also looked faint and paler than before.

"We shan't kill them," she was giggling more hysterically now, and Severus was wondering if her cigarette was purely tobacco, "He would be upset if we killed them. So what to do?" More smoke was flooding towards Severus. In a flash of panic, he realized that they were somehow being drugged. Severus wasted no time in grabbing the portkey the Dark Lord had made for them and then grabbed Nott's arm before everything faded to black.

oOo

Severus woke up in a soft bed in a richly decorated room. He groaned inwardly and rolled over and sat up on the bed. He was still in his Death Eater robes he'd worn while visiting the vampire clan. Groaning, he quickly exited the room. He did not want to keep the Dark Lord waiting longer than necessary.

As he walked down the hall he marveled (not for the first time) how even the hallways in Malfoy Manor looked expensive. As he walked towards the study where the Dark Lord could often be found he wondered how long he was out and how much trouble he would be in. Bracing himself for punishment for his failure with the vampire clan, Severus knocked on the door.

"Enter," a high pitched voice commanded from the other side.

Severus opened the door and walked in. With a quick bow, he addressed his Lord, "My Lord, I am sorry for the -"

"Tell me what happened, Severus. And do not waste words with platitudes." Voldemort was sitting in a richly colored green wingback chair with a large book in his lap.

"My Lord, Le Stat had a friend with when we visited. I - I," Severus was working hard to remember exactly what happened. His memories were foggy at best. All he could remember was a bad Muggle joke and that the vampires had a mole in the Order, "I can't remember well what happened. She recognized me, said she knew I spied on Dumbledore for you.. They were angry and she was smoking a cigarette. Everything else is blurry." Racking his memory again using his occumulency skills, "They have a mole in the Order. Said that Dumbledore had a 'furry problem.'" That didn't seem like the right phrasing to Severus but it was as close as he could remember.

"And do you remember what this woman looked like?" Voldemort had his fingers steepled and appeared to be in deep thought.

"No, a blonde possibly?" Severus really wasn't sure why he wasn't being punished, but these were the best answers he could give.

"I spoke with Nott this morning, he woke before you." The Dark Lord paused as though he was going to relay a great secret. "It seems that the what the woman was smoking contained Oblivius powder. I've seen it before in my travels, but it hasn't been popular since the downfall of Grindelwald. The smoker can either show memories through the smoke or to take memories with the smoke. The unfortunate thing about the powder that I've seen in my research is that anyone who revisits the memories either through a pensieve or legilimency can become tainted as well if they do not take the necessary precautions. You two were fortunate to escape with your minds intact."

The Dark Lord paused as if wondering how much to disclose, "It can take some time to work fully, which is why you have any memories of the event at all. From what I've seen through Nott's memories, which is unfortunately limited due to the precautions I had to employ, she was trying to keep you two there long enough for the powder to take effect." Voldemort stood and began pacing while running his hand along his wand. "It is my belief that you and Nott stumbled upon something that the vampires did not want Dumbledore to know. If your memories return, even the smallest detail, you will let me know immediately. Understood?" Severus nodded curtly at this. "You are dismissed."


	5. Chapter 5

oOo

Harry tried not to breathe in a noticeable way. He stood as still as he could beside a suit of armor underneath his invisibility cloak in one of the many dim corridors that branched off from the corridor with the Room of Requirement. Recently during his nighttime strolls, Harry was running into both Dumbledore and Snape far more often than could be left up to chance. Right now, Harry was evading Dumbledore who must have known that Harry was in the Room of Requirement after curfew. Harry had even gone so far as to check the corridor and several of the surrounding corridors for jinx's that would alert Dumbledore to Harry's presence. Of course, Harry found none and was still figuring out this puzzle.

As loathe as Harry was to admit it, Harry actually _looked forward _to evading Dumbledore and Snape. It was quite possibly the most interesting activity he'd gotten to do since being stuck in Hogwarts. However, it would be very embarrassing to be caught by either a man of not even one hundred and fifty or, even worse, a man of just over thirty-five. If Harry's wand was working properly, this wouldn't be such an issue. As it were, Harry was relying on just his wits and was not on his home turf.

Taking another deep breath and reaching out with his magic to feel if Dumbledore was close, Harry decided that he was safe when he felt nothing after a minute or two. He slid out from the armor and wondered yet again where the Marauder's Map was supposed to be in this time.

oOo

"Harry! Wait up!"

Harry turned around and saw Hermione and Ron trailing him down the corridor. He had hoped with as beautiful a Saturday as today was that his friends would want to spend the day outside on the grounds. Preferably without noticing that Harry was missing.

"Where are you headed?" Hermione was slightly out of breath.

Harry took a pause to weigh his options. He knew that inviting them along now might give him more time alone later once their curiosity was sated.

"I - er - found somewhere to practice with my wand... You guys can, um, come with me... But I need you to promise me that you won't tell anyone about where I'm going. It's the best place to practice with my wand that I know of and I don't want to lose it."

Once Harry saw agreement on both of their faces he headed off towards the seventh floor, luckily they were pretty close already.

"So where exactly are we going?" said Hermione.

"It's somewhere the Dobby told me about. I asked him if he knew of anywhere that would be a good place to learn where I wouldn't be disturbed. The place has been a godsend, that's for sure. And you know that you guys are welcome here anytime."

Harry hoped that an open invitation would reduce their suspicion.

"When did you see Dobby?" Ron spoke up from behind Hermione.

"Right after I got my new wand. Went down to the kitchen and thought I'd say hello."

Harry really had gone down to the kitchens just to see Dobby and the meeting had ended up being more emotional than Harry anticipated. Upon seeing the tiny elf, Harry had given him a bone-crushing hug and teared up a bit, not that he'd admit that last part to anyone.

"Oh, I guess you didn't think to ask if we wanted to come then." Ron huffed a bit and glared at the floor. Harry felt like huffing himself, annoyed at how easily irritated Ron had been over the past week. Harry had forgotten what it was like to be an awkward teenager and had definitely forgotten what it was like dealing with _Ron_ as an awkward teen. He took a breath and tried counting to ten before making any response.

"Well, you guys can check it out now." Harry approached the spot on the seventh-floor corridor and started pacing, thinking _I need a place to practice magic. _After he paced three times, the door appeared and Hermione let out a little gasp. Harry flourished a good-natured bow and let Hermione and Ron enter the room first.

"Harry, this is incredible! How does this work?" Hermione looked around the room that had several large bookcases, different size cushions, and other items to practice charms and transfiguration on as well as three overstuffed chairs. Hermione immediately ran to the bookshelf browsing the titles.

"Harry, I believe some of these books aren't even in the library? What is this place?"

"This is the Room of Requirement. All you have to do is pace out there three times while thinking about exactly what you want the room to be. Then it supplies you everything you need. And if you think of something else -" Harry thought about how he needed a Snitch and there one appeared flying beside his head, "then the room will supply it."

Ron looked around, did a brief nod and went to go lay across one of the chairs, "This is pretty nice, Harry. Anything?"

"I haven't found anything that it can't supply."

While Ron slept in the chair and Hermione helped, Harry figured out what exactly was wrong with his spell casting.

Harry decided that the best place to start was with the fourth year spells that they had spent some time reviewing this year in charms. Harry sighed internally, knowing that he wasn't going to get to experiment with his wand in exactly the way he wanted with Hermione and Ron here.

Taking several small, multi-colored cloth balls from a table, Harry set them down a little way from where Hermione was sitting on the floor watching him closely.

"Remember those spells we did at the beginning of the term? I'll try them again now and work my way up to the current material."

Hermione nodded.

"_Accio!" _Harry decided to use the amount of intent that felt most natural to him first as a baseline to test against. All at once the ball burst around its seems and catch fire. However, that didn't stop it from zooming out of control towards Harry. Harry ducked just as Hermione jumped forward and threw a yellow colored spell extinguishing the flames.

"You don't look surprised, did you know that would happen?"

"I had a suspicion. I thought that I would start by casting with what feels right and then make adjustments as needed." Harry pointed his wand at another ball and using hardly any intent cast the spell again. It was like it was trying to push too much magic out at one moment while pulling the magic back inside him the next. It felt like self-sabotage but with someone else controlling the show.

After many more attempts, Harry was able to gain some amount of control of his unruly magic. It took careful concentration and a lot of focus, but he was able to successful summon one of the balls without even a split seam by the end of an hour. However, when presented with the Banishing Charm, it was like starting over from scratch all over again.

"Look, Harry," Hermione said in a soothing voice, "why don't you try several different spells all with how you would normally cast in a row, just to see what happens. That way, maybe we'll be able to see similarities that can help you gain control again."

Harry couldn't argue with that logic and went to get another cushion for his Banishing Charm, a multicolored ball, and a pineapple from the supply table that the room had created. He set them all out on the floor equidistant from himself and went through the spells one after another.

_Poomph!_ First, the cushion exploded much in the same fashion as it did in Flitwick's class. But not giving his magic time to rest, Harry cast the summoning charm again and the ball flew perfectly towards him. Catching the ball in one hand, Harry cast a spell to make the pineapple grow shoes and tap dance.

He couldn't believe it, it worked! His magic even felt back to normal - except for the first spell, of course. It was as if he moved fast enough then his magic didn't have time to betray him. Something deep down inside of himself felt almost bitter about this revelation.

"Harry, what happened? What was different about this time?" Hermione looked as ecstatic as Harry felt.

Giving a small smirk and a shrug, Harry answered, "I'm not sure, but if it works who am I to question it?"

Harry and Hermione continued practicing for several hours. It seemed that as long as Harry cast one initial spell that went awry and then blasted off several others in quick succession, the latter spells would execute as normal. Neither Harry nor Hermione could come up with a good reason for this, but he didn't really care at this moment. Once Hermione and Ron were gone he would start working on that question, but for now, he was just glad that he'd found a loophole to cast spells properly.

When they had reached a natural lull in their practice, Hermione cleared her throat.

"Harry, I wanted to talk to you about what happened at the end of last year."

"What about it?"

Hermione looked like she was trying to choose her words carefully, "I'd like to know everyth- well, anything that you'd want to share. I'm concerned about how it's been affecting you, Harry."

Harry felt a well of emotions roll up inside of him, emotions that felt very separate from his own. Rather than push them back down like he normally did, Harry decided to let them speak. The sadness, fear, and confusion felt authentic to this situation and seemed more genuine than anything else Harry could muster. Taking these feelings and bringing them to the forefront, Harry let them speak for themselves and slowly the story of the graveyard flowed from Harry much like he had been possessed by these alien emotions.

"- and that's it really." Harry had finished his entire tale with both he and Hermione sitting crossed legged on the floor. It felt good to get it all out of him, he had to admit. "And Hermione, I really need hel-" Rattled and not exactly sure what was going on, Harry took back control from the strong emotions surrounding the graveyard fiasco and tried to save face with a wide-eyed Hermione, "Time. I need time Hermione. I'll be fine in time."

oOo

_His arm itching around his elbow. Harry reached to scratch it and stared. Two arms were jutting out of his elbow: one leading to his own body, and the other… to a young boy. _

"You! Why are you still here?" The young dark-haired boy struggled back as far as possible.

"Look, it's not like I planned this." Harry huffed and scratched at his elbow, "Why don't we just try to make the best of this, okay?"

"You're a monster, I see what you are! No matter what I do, you find a way around it! Get away, get AWAY NOW! I NEED HELP! HELP!" The boy began violently flailing their attached appendage in a way that made them both topple down to the ground cursing each other.

Harry's eyes snapped open and he tried to catch his breath, panting. Adrenaline surged through his system as he realized that his wand problem wasn't an internal one.

oOo

Harry rounded a corner, hoping that Snape was still far enough behind him that he could access the Room of Requirement. He stood still under his cloak and listened for several seconds and then moved towards the entrance and began pacing.

Harry quickly slid into the room, wishing with all his heart that the door disappear as quickly as possible. So far, Harry had not gotten caught by either Dumbledore nor Snape, but that didn't mean there hadn't been some close calls. At this point, Harry was almost positive that at least Dumbledore had access to the Marauder's Map. These 'random' run-ins happened far too frequently even when Harry tried to vary his trips or go the long way around.

Sighing, Harry looked around the room. It had lots of shadowy areas and places for him to hide. Running a hand over his face, Harry tried to concentrate on what he actually wanted: a room with books on time theory. Slowly the room morphed and changed to one with a large crackling fireplace, an overstuffed chair in Gryffindor red, and a small, elegant mahogany bookshelf.

As Harry browsed the shelf, he admitted to himself that he wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to find. Several nights ago while he was researching time theory, he had realized that around Grindelwald's reign of terror there was a good bit of research done with time theory, presumably by both sides to undo the consequences of the war. He was familiar with most of the more recent time theories, but none of them seemed to fit with his current situation. Hoping to find something a little older or a little more obscure, Harry scanned the titles on the shelf and settled on a badly aged book simply titled _Tempus_ by J.W. Timly.

Harry settled down in the chair and began skimming through the book to quickly see the topics covered. Impatiently, he flipped through the book hoping that something would jump out at him. He stopped at the drawing of two men burning and seemingly merging together. He looked to the title of the section and froze when he saw _Alternative Consumption Theory_. He took a breath in and began reading the short paragraph.

_Alternative Consumption Theory draws from the Relativity of Souls Theory that states souls cannot be destroyed, only released. As opposed to Standard Consumption Theory that states that one soul is consumed by another, Alternative Consumption Theory allows for the possibility of the existence of two souls in one body until the weaker soul is merged and a third unique soul is created from the merger of the two souls. As of the current date, it is unclear if the new, third consciousness would arise or if the magically dominant soul would remain fully independent of influence from the lesser soul._

Harry reread the paragraph several times. Harry focused hard on wanting all the books that contained information about _Alternative Consumption Theory _to appear in a second bookshelf. A new bookshelf appeared - but it was empty! Harry swore under his breath, ran a hand over his face and got up and began pacing.

_It's only a matter of time before I am consumed… Or we are consumed. I don't know how to deal with this, but I do know a bit about soul magic. _

Harry barely noticed as a black mist flooded into the room from one of the windows overlooking the grounds. Noticing a drop in temperature, Harry turned just in time to see Loreley taking form from the mist.

"Summoning empty bookshelves? I can't imagine that they're too helpful for research."

Harry stared, all he could focus on was her platinum blonde hair and equally platinum eyebrows.

Harry raised an eyebrow, "Nice hair."

Loreley flounced into the overstuffed chair and stretched her body across it in a flippant manner. She pulled a cigarette out and lit it from her finger. "We've had enough Death Eater's coming by to recruit that it seemed pertinent to change my look a bit. And you know that I can't really change my appearance with magic, at least not reliably since you've been my master. So bleach it was. Plus, no spell work will be able to undo this. You should have seen it when I first bleached it if you think this looks bad now. I got the color corrected a bit at a muggle place so it looks more natural. Cigarette? And here I brought you a pack, too."

Harry took his pack and pocketed it and took a cigarette from her pack, careful to avoid the ones that were laced with Oblivious powder. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but why are you here this time?"

Speaking of Time, I've been looking for Bain to no avail. Any ideas?" She took a long drag and exhaled out a smoke dragon and several smoke thestrals that played with each other in the air until they dissipated.

"No idea. I mean you're been tracking places where he likes to go and slow down time, right? Concerts, raves, parties that sort of thing? I would check the hardcore rave scene around London. I know that he loves the warehouse parties. If we find him do you think he can reverse this? " Harry took a drag off his cigarette and relaxed a bit more. "Oh, and I think I found a theory that sounds a little more likely than anything I've run into so far."

"I'll look into the rave scene, that sounds like something he would do. And yes, I was hoping that as he is Time that he would be able to do _something _about your current situation," Loreley took another drag, "And pray tell about this theory?"

Harry showed her the passage about Alternative Consumption Theory. Her eyebrows shot up while reading the passage.

"Interesting. Good thing you are well versed in soul magic and necromancy, eh?" Loreley frowned as she read the paragraph again. "There's got to be another way around it..."

oOo

"Harry, please consider it!" Hermione pleaded as she and Harry walked outside together. They had just finished up their last class of the day, Defense Against the Dark Arts. It had been a royal disaster which began with Hermione questioning the proper shield to use against a blasting charm. It had ended with even Harry jumping into the fray, suggesting that Umbridge try to shield against one of his blasting charms with that specific shield. Now both he and Hermione had detention.

Harry wanted to say that he didn't care, but he did. With his excursions, every night to the Room of Requirement, lack of sleep was catching up with him and making him extra irritated in Umbridge's class. However, that didn't mean that Harry wanted to teach a child army. Especially not since Dumbledore and Snape had taken to trailing him around every night. Harry feared that Dumbledore suspected that he was being possessed by his scar horcrux, but he had no proof of this theory. He also didn't think Dumbledore would make a move unless provoked. And Harry training school children to fight would be quite a provocation, no matter how badly they needed his instruction.

"I just don't think it's right. Look my wand doesn't even work half the time, I'm not even going to be able to demonstrate things properly,"

"What about our OWLs? Would you want to be in a study group for our OWLs? Maybe a really big study group?"

Harry took a minute just to enjoy the crisp autumn air and the view of the grounds from where they stood. Choosing his words carefully, Harry responded, "I don't want to be involved in anything that will look like I am training people. Full stop. I will participate in a study group, but I will not, _not_ be teaching anything. Understood?"

"Perfect! And I have to tell you about …" Hermione went off on a tangent about her Transfiguration essay as Harry zoned out making appropriate comments at the right time, wondering where was Ron?

oOo

_Harry,_

_Meet me in our usual place on your next Hogsmeade weekend. We have things to discuss. Come alone._

_Snuffles_

Harry looked over the letter from Sirius again as he crept along the outskirts of Hogsmeade. It had taken special effort on his part to avoid the professors out on patrol. Not to mention having to shake off Ron and Hermione in the chaos of all the students on the main road. Sirius had sent the owl this morning at breakfast and Harry was anxious to hear what he had to say.

Finally reaching the familiar cave, Harry ducked inside, allowing his eyes to get used to the dank darkness around him. Letting out a small sigh, Harry started towards Sirius, who was sitting against a wall of the cave to his right.

"What's going on?" Harry looked down at Sirius, hoping that he would be able to make it back to Grimmauld Place unnoticed. He looked so young, still coming into his prime for a wizard.

"Harry, you look good! Much better than this summer." Sirius smiled at Harry but Harry could see the strain he was under. "I'll be brief. There is word that there is a mole in the Order."

"Wh-what?!"

"The story that Dumbledore told us is that Snape went to recruit the vampires for Voldemort a while back-"

Harry's heart rate increased realizing who they were referring to.

"-And there was some woman there that they weren't expecting. She was smoking something that made Snivellus' memories hazy supposedly, but -" Sirius made a face, "he remembers her saying that Dumbledore has a "furry little problem."

Harry groaned. While he wasn't sure exactly what happened, it sounded like Oblivious powder was involved, "So what does that mean?"

"Well Dumbledore is saying that we shouldn't rely on such an unreliable source for information, but he is still being cautious. Snape is sure that Remus is the traitor, others think that it may be me or both me and Remus."

Sirius paused to see how Harry was handling the news.

"Molly and Arthur are split. Arthur thinks we shouldn't rely on the tampered memories whereas Molly wants to Veritaserum both me and Remus. Tonks is standing by us too, with some others. It's just a mess and it's been going on for a little while now. We thought that it might die down, but it hasn't. So I wanted you to hear it from me before hearing it from someone else."

Sirius sighed and leaned back against the cave wall.

"Of course I know it isn't you two." Harry took a cigarette pack out of his pocket and lit a cigarette with his finger, not trusting his wand. "What do you think will happen with this?"

Sirius eyed Harry's hand with alarm, "You can't smoke! James would kill me if he'd been alive!"

Sirius looked like he wanted to say more, but Harry shrugged him off.

"It's just a bad habit I picked up this summer." Harry offered the pack to Sirius who waved it away with disgust.

"Right, well We don't know if the vampires are hoping to take over like Voldemort or if they just don't like Dumbledore on principle. But Dumbledore's seen the memory and says that it's too unreliable to draw any concrete conclusions. Apparently, you can't even see the woman's face properly. And the words fade in and out and some are missing altogether. Just be careful. And if you see anything that looks suspicious let me or Dumbledore know immediately."

Harry took another draw off his cigarette and looked at Sirius, "Of course, if anything weird happens I'll let you know."


	6. Chapter 6

Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to update this, I just finished up my degree and the last two semesters were really busy. I'm out in the real world now and should have more time to update since I don't have schoolwork. I haven't forgotten about this and plan on finishing it!

oOo

Harry was lost in thought on his walk back to Hogsmeade from the cave. He knew that at fifteen he would have immediately told his friends about any potential mole in the Order. He also knew that he probably would have taken them to the cave with Sirius to hear the news firsthand.

Harry was torn because in all honesty whatever was said was probably referring to _him._ He really needed to speak with Loreley or Frank before he said too much, but Harry knew that wasn't really an option right now. Maybe he would write Loreley to come by and visit one night and he could tell Ron and Hermione just the bare basics until then.

Coming back into the main part of the town, Harry lit another cigarette and looked around, trying to decide where to go next. If he ran into Ron and Hermione, he'd tell them, but if not then he'd have the day to himself.

"Harry! Over here!" Hermione called from a few buildings down. Ron didn't seem to be with her even though he had come to Hogsmeade with them earlier that morning.

Walking closer to Hermione, Harry asked, "Where's Ron?"

"He was feeling under the weather and said that he wanted to go back to the castle early." Hermione looked like she was considering her next words carefully, "I'm beginning to get worried about him, Harry. He sleeps all the time now, plays chess only with himself. Have you noticed anything odd lately?" Hermione asked in a hushed undertone.

"He has looked tired lately, so I just figured he wasn't getting good sleep." Harry felt a pang in his gut realizing he really hadn't been paying attention to Ron outside of making sure that he wasn't viewing Harry suspiciously.

"Well, could you talk to him about it when we get back? I've tried but I think because I'm a girl he doesn't want to talk about it with me. Maybe you could figure out what's wrong."

Harry paused and sighed, "Sure, I'll see what I can do. Look we need to talk somewhere private."

"What about the Hog's Head? I hardly ever see students there." Hermione asked.

Harry grimaced as he could honestly think of no worse place to have any kind of supposedly private conversation.

"How about we just walk towards the outskirts of town and I'll put up a privacy charm. I don't want to attract more attention by going into that pub as students. We'd stick out like a sore thumb." Harry said already steering their path towards a more deserted side of town.

"Okay," Hermione agreed, seeming a little nervous.

Harry pulled out his new wand and muttered "_Muffliato!" _softly while concentrating hard to make sure the spell acted properly.

Hermione's eyes widened, "I've never heard of that spell. What does it do?"

"It makes anyone who's trying to listen in only hear a ringing in their ears. It's quite useful." He'd forgotten when he learned that particular spell, but it was obviously after fifth year.

"Did Frank teach you that too?" Hermione asked.

"Frank is a big fan of that particular spell," Harry said, feeling as though he should feel guilty about misleading Hermione.

"Hermione, I - I just spoke with Sirius. They believe that there's a mole in the Order. He told me to be careful." Harry paused gaging Hermione's reaction. She looked shocked and scared. Harry took a drag off his cigarette and told her an edited version of the story that Sirius had relayed to him. "We need to tell Ron too. I don't know how he'll react about his parents being split on this."

Hermione seemed to be thinking things over and gave a nod. She looked back at Harry and then at the cigarette he was smoking. "Harry, how long have you been smoking? You know it's really bad for you."

Harry took another drag and let it out. "Just since this summer. It's a good stress reliever. Besides with magical medicine, there is really no risk of cancer."

Harry thought he could a glimpse of Hermione's eyes widening, but when he looked back again her expression was normal. It must have just been a trick of the light.

oOo

Harry made his way to the library, wondering exactly how long it would be before Umbridge banned clubs again. A nasty side of Harry hoped that it would be soon. Then he would have an actual reason to skip this study group. While Harry knew that everyone in his year was concerned about their OWLs and that he should act concerned too, he just couldn't find it in himself to care.

All he really wanted to do was to try to fly under the radar until he could get his wand working reliably and could leave. Going from being a fully functioning adult that picks what they do with their time, to a child again was not agreeing well with Harry. He was tired of doing things he'd already finished long ago and writing essays about concepts that seemed second nature to him or worse yet those that held no importance and he'd forgotten.

Sighing, Harry rounded a corner and saw two large tables pushed together that was full of fifth-year students from Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw talking quietly. He recognized Ron and Hermione, Neville, Dean Thomas, and Seamus Finnigan, but those in his year outside of Gryffindor Harry couldn't put faces with names. This was becoming quite the challenge as people often knew Harry and Harry had no idea who these people were. In the last little while, Harry had gotten very good at not using people's names in conversation so that it wouldn't become obvious that he'd forgotten most of the people he knew from his childhood. Harry sighed again and put his bag down and took a seat by Hermione and Ron.

"Okay, now that everyone is here, we can get started with our study plan." Hermione had a roll of parchment in front of her that appeared to contain notes on what they needed to study.

"Now, I asked everyone to bring a list of spells that they thought might be on the OWLs and that they wanted to review. If everyone could give those to me and we can go through them together. I'll make a master list of Defense spells as we go. That way we'll have a list of spells to work with at all our study sessions."

Harry passed Hermione his parchment as everyone else turned theirs in as well. He looked around the group and noticed that a few of the students wouldn't meet his eyes. With all the articles in the _Daily Prophet_, Harry could hardly blame them. It was still strange for him to experience this shunning first hand again. Harry had mostly forgotten about it. But some strange and separate part of him seemed to be angry about it still. Harry pushed the feelings down, hoping that this was his hormones and not some side effect of merging with his younger self.

"Okay, so Dean …" Harry tuned Hermione out, hoping that whenever she made it to his parchment it would be nearly time to go. He still wanted to get some more practice in with his new wand before curfew. Things were getting easier, and as long as he was casting his spells in a continuous chain the magic worked fine, save the first spell. But he still wanted to practice to make sure that he could perform well under pressure.

"-rry, Harry?" Hermione turned to Harry jolting him out of his thoughts.

"Right, sorry. What were you asking?" Harry turned and noticed that the whole table full of students all had their eyes on him.

"I was asking you about this spell, _flexius_? You have it down as a fifth-year Defense spell to review, but none of us have heard of it." Hermione looked concerned, but Harry couldn't understand why. _Flexius _was a pretty simple concept to get down.

"Sure, you know it's a tridiagonal shield." Harry noted Hermione's concerned face and tried to reassure her "It's easy enough to pick up. Here I can show you."

Harry stood in the library with his side to the table and took out his wand. Carefully regulating his magic, Harry whispered, "_Flexius!" _And out sprang a blue shield that had a flat front and two other flat surfaces coming out from the front of the shield at an angle protecting the shield holder from spells coming from the front and from both the left and right sides. Harry was thankful that the spell worked as intended.

Harry grinned at the table and let the shield drop, "See, it's simple enough." Harry took his seat again at a silent table and looked to Hermione who seemed to be at a loss of words.

"Right, well, yes … moving on." Hermione wrote something down and took back control of the study group as Harry went back to his thoughts.

oOo

Harry felt an odd tingling feeling from his shoulder down. He turned his head to the side towards his shoulder and found him staring face to face with a younger version of himself.

"Who are you?" The boy cried, "Get out! Get out! Get out!"

Harry stumbled in surprise and took a step back taking both himself and the other boy down onto the grass. They rolled around fighting for control of their shared shoulder. Harry stopped struggling as a means to end the conflict between the two of them. The boy didn't seem to care.

"GET OUT! OUT! OUT!"

Harry reached forward with his other arm and tried to get ahold of the boy to calm him down, but when their hands touched they both seemed to merge together up to the wrists. Alarmed, Harry tried to pull back his hand, but he only succeeded in jerking the boy by his arm. Harry let out a long scream and then everything faded to black.

oOo

Harry was sitting in the common room reading through his transfiguration essay and checking for errors when Hermione approached him.

"Harry, I was wondering if you had time to talk," Hermione asked quietly, she was standing over him looking down at him where he sat in an oversized armchair away from most everyone else.

"Sure," Harry rolled up his essay and turned to look at Hermione.

"Not here, maybe we could walk down to the kitchens?" Hermione was fidgeting with her sleeve and Harry wondered why she seemed so nervous.

"Of course," Harry stuffed his essay into his bag and got up from the chair.

As the pair headed out of the common room, Hermione turned and looked at Harry for a long moment before asking, "Can you use that spell? The privacy one?"

Dread filled Harry's stomach as he cast _muffliato_ silently. It took him a few tries before the spell was cast properly, but he finally managed it. What was going on?

"Everything okay, Hermione?" Harry knew Hermione was very clever for her age, but Harry really doubted that she would be able to figure out exactly what was going on. But a close enough guess that was incorrect could still cause chaos that Harry really could do without.

"Yesterday at the study group, you showed us an interesting spell." Hermione seemed to be choosing her words carefully. "Where did you learn that spell?"

Harry sighed. At one point in his long adult life, Harry had helped teach an OWLs review class during every winter break for several years. It was a class for muggleborn and half-blood children that didn't have access to tutors during the summer and winter breaks. One of the oldest spells on the list had been the _flexius _shield. He couldn't remember when it had actually been invented, but he had been sure that it was before now.

"It was just something that I picked up at some point. I thought it was common knowledge." Harry tried to lie smoothly, but it looked like Hermione was having none of that. Hermione unfolded a newspaper that she had been holding and pointed to an article from a middle section of the paper titled, _Theodore Young Masters Experimental Tridiagonal Shielding Charm. _Harry didn't need to read the article to understand where this was going. Sometimes he felt as if Fate was conspiring against him. On second thought… Unfortunately, Harry didn't have long enough to explore that train of thought.

"Right, look I learned it from -" Harry began but was cut off mid-sentence.

"If you say Frank again, I'm going to hex you until you tell the truth!" Hermione's cheeks were flushed and her eyes bright, "Between you acting strange and Ron acting strange, I feel like I am going insane! I don't trust this Frank character. I won't trust him until I meet him and see what he's really like. Please, Harry, I need something that allows me to understand what's going on. I'm worried for you, you've changed so much."

Harry sighed as they approached the picture of the fruit that hung over the entrance to the kitchen. He tickled the pear and they walked inside. He asked for a cup of tea for both he and Hermione before sitting down on a bench.

"What do you want to know?" Harry gave an easy smile and hoped that looking like an open book would help satisfy Hermione's curiosity.

"How did you meet Frank? Can I meet Frank?" Hermione was looking intently at Harry, "You have to understand that it's just me and Ron that know about Frank, right?" At this Harry nodded affirmatively, "Right, so if something bad were to happen I would never forgive myself if I hadn't at least met him, just to see what he's like. What if he's taking advantage of you or trying to trick you. It would be my fault for not saying something to someone sooner." Hermione said all this in a rush like she was afraid she wouldn't be able to get it out before Harry changed his mind about listening to her.

Harry sat there for a minute imagining a meeting between Hermione and Frank. He had told her about the potential mole in the Order. Harry had also told her that the mole was working with the vampires. Meeting Frank would be a no go, that Harry was sure of. Maybe Loreley would satisfy Hermione's curiosity.

"Frank is out of the country right now." Harry lied smoothly, "But Loreley, a girl that Frank is also teaching, is in the country. We are friends as well. I can owl her and set up a time for all of us to meet. Maybe on a Hogsmeade weekend? Do you think Ron would want to meet her too?" Harry tried to seem as relaxed as possible, but this was starting the wear on his patience.

Hermione looked like she didn't like being brushed off about meeting Frank, but she must have decided that she'd take what she could get, "Sure, that works. Maybe when Frank gets back you could ask him if we could meet?"

"Of course, Hermione."

oOo

"My Lord, I come bearing concerning news." Severus kneeled down before the Dark Lord, hoping that he wasn't pushing his luck with Dumbledore's newest request. The headmaster had become convinced that the Dark Lord was somehow either possessing the Potter boy or exhibiting a strong influence over him. While Dumbledore's reasoning for this had not been clear, Severus saw the Headmaster exert enough concern that Severus accepted it could be a real possibility. They had devised a scheme to see if they could glean any information from the Dark Lord about what he'd done to the boy. The Headmaster hoped that with the right information they could reverse the possession.

"Rise. Give me your news." The Dark Lord stood still looking down at Severus with lazy interest.

"My Lord, it has come to Dumbledore's attention that you are possessing the Potter bo-" Severus was cut off mid-sentence by the sharp look the Dark Lord gave him. If it had been anyone else, Severus would say the expression was one of surprise.

"Why does Dumbledore believe I am possessing the boy?" The Dark Lord seemed to be even stiller than before, but now all his attention was on Severus.

"It started this summer. When I gave you the report of the boy having some kind of magical accident with fire near his muggle relatives home." Severus paused to think of exactly how to phrase this. He had given thought to a lot of things about this meeting, but having to explain_ why _Potter was acting weird and in what ways was not one of them. "Since then he has been different, more closed with everyone according to his godfather." Severus sneered, "And he displays knowledge he should not have. He has become an excellent student in potions almost overnight. His wand would not let him cast any spells after this summer. It seemed like it was incompatible with him. And he does random displays of wandless magic, not to show off but more like from an established habit." Severus took a breath he didn't realize he needed.

The Dark Lord was now pacing. He looked to be deep in thought.

"Thank you for the information, Severus. Do you have anything else to add?"

"No, my lord." Severus was watching for an indicator of the Dark Lord would proceed given this information.

"Then you are dismissed."

oOo

In a large room sat a blond man and woman. The woman was behind a large loom carefully weaving in and out. The tapestry she was leaving was an epic battle scene. Many different animals seemed to be fighting against other animals across a large grassy lawn. The tapestry was a little over halfway done. The weaver seemed to be deep in thought as she put the finishing touches on a graying weasel and a young jack russell terrier. Methodically she moved the thread through the loom, back and forth.

The man could be seen sitting on an ottoman shaking something that looked like a mix between a crystal ball and a snow globe. The globe seemed to act as a mirror for the mortal world. Behind the mists of the orb, the whole of earth could be seen. He was shaking the globe every so often and then making a pinching motion on the glass as if to zoom in on who he was viewing.

Once he selected his target, he would sweep one long fingernail down into the crystal ball and grab what looked to be multi-colored strings from the back of a person's head. He then proceeded to knot a few strings together, clip the end of another and then shove them back into the person in question. The red-headed man looked none the wiser as the man watched him for a few minutes before shaking the orb to clear the view.

"Sister, how is your weaving going?" Chaos asked Fate.

"Seth, it's as its ever been. I have finished off the latest piece of my work. However, you know how it is, it can take months to play out once I finish things on my loom. You seem busy yourself."

"Of course, Dalia Dearest," Chaos said in a manic, sing-song voice, "I have just finished a few things of my own. While I would love to claim credit with what happened to Harry _Dearest_, I must admit that was not me. However, I am not going to waste an opportunity to capitalize on this. This might just be the most fun I've had in several hundred years!" Seth grinned widely, tossing his globe in the air and catching it again. "And you know that this will rile Loreley up quite nicely! If we play this right Voldemort's victory might just -"

"We cannot guarantee mortals victory! No matter how much I wish I could weave it into existence. I am weaving up situations that would most likely make him victorious, but I cannot guarantee anything. You know this! But you are doing quite a bit to make Harry miserable too, yes?" Dalia grinned, her bright eyes making her look slightly unstable in her glee.

"Of course, of course. What better way to torture someone with a hero complex than to give them people who can't be saved?"

oOo

Harry was snooping around his dormitory, looking for Ron. Hermione had become increasingly worried about Ron's odd behavior and had been begging Harry to talk to Ron. It had been a week since Hermione had first asked Harry to talk to Ron, but Harry had been putting it off until now for reasons that Harry didn't even fully understand. So here he was, trying to hunt down Ron on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Harry wasn't too worried about Ron in all honesty. Personally, Harry thought Ron was acting like a typical teenager, moody and sullen.

Harry stopped by Ron's bed, where the curtains were closed, "Ron? You in there mate?"

Harry could hear a muffled response and slowly Ron opened the curtains. He looked like he'd been taking a nap with his hair ruffled and his eyes bloodshot. Harry frowned, wondering what was wrong with his friend. It was unlike Ron to waste a Saturday in bed.

"What do you need?" Ron muttered looking down at his feet as he sat hunched over on his bed.

"Hermione's getting worried about you, so she sent me up here to see what's going on. It's unlike you to sleep like this, usually, you're in the common room with us." Harry tried to sound soothing but didn't know if he'd pulled it off.

"Oh, so _just _Hermione is concerned? And you pulled the short straw and had to come to see about me, did you?" Ron shot Harry a dirty look, "I'm fine, I want to be left alone. Now, LEAVE!" And with that Ron grabbed his curtains and shut them in a manner that suggested the conversation was done. Harry sighed and headed downstairs to tell Hermione that he now thought that something wasn't right with Ron as well.

oOo

Sorry about the formatting issues guys! I thank everyone who brought it to my attention. I have corrected them all now and hopefully, the story is no longer confusing to read!


	7. Chapter 7

oOo

There was a jumble of different Order members who were gathered around the kitchen table at Grimmauld Place. The air has a musty tang that Snape had never quite gotten used to. He felt it fitting that Black was stuck in this wretched house.

Dumbledore stood in front of the table and cleared his throat. Snape noted he was paler than normal and had a slight tremor in his knees, though he doubted that anyone else noticed. Right now you had to be looking for it to spot it. The oblivious powder really had done a number on him when he had looked at Snape's memory of that night with the vampires. _The old man should have known better than to go into that memory. He's paying the price now. _

As Dumbledore began to address the room about Snape's latest report, he allowed his mind to wander. Ever since word of the mole in the Order had gotten out there had been much more tension than normal at meetings. Molly and Arthur made it a point not to sit on the same side of the table anymore. Remus and Sirius sat by Arthur and Tonks. Mad-Eye had taken to sitting by Molly. Tensions were running especially high today but Snape wasn't sure why. It could be all the success that Voldemort was having gaining allies. It was as if he had been kissed by fate. Fractions that should want to remain neutral were easily being swayed. This had done a number on Order morale. It seemed that at every Order meeting another ally was revealed either by his report or one from one of Dumbledore's many sources.

"... and Severus, do you have anything else to add?" Everyone's gaze turned to Severus.

"No, not at this time."

"Then we will begin with news from the Ministry. Alastor, Nymphadora what news do you bring?"

The rest of the meeting dragged on while Snape tried his best to pay attention to the different reports. The lack of news seemed almost welcome after weeks of new dark creatures and beings joining the Dark Lord. Everyone seemed quite relieved when the meeting closed out without any new alliances with the Dark Lord mentioned. Hurriedly, to avoid getting caught in another fight between the two warring factions of the Order, Snape swept out of the kitchen to make his way back to Hogwarts.

oOo

Harry moved down the darkened corridors silently. After all of his nighttime trips to the Room of Requirement, he was becoming quite skilled at moving around the castle at night. Reaching the One-Eyed Witch statue, Harry whispered, "_Dissendium" _and slid into the passage leaving out of the castle. It was only a short trek to Honeydukes basement where he could disapparate directly to London.

After getting past the protective enchantments of Hogwarts, Harry reached out and tried to feel for any anti-apparition jinxes that might be in place. Not feeling any, Harry said a small prayer to the gods that he could still apparate despite his wand problems and he spun on his heel.

Reappearing whole outside an old boarded-up building, Harry took a vial of potion out of his pocket and downed it in one go. Harry grimaced at the pungent taste. He didn't have long to think about it though, as he began to grow. Luckily, he had thought to place an automatic expansion and contraction charm on his clothing before leaving his dorm. His clothes lengthened and widened with his body until he stopped growing. Feeling confident that he now looked as if he was in his mid-twenties, Harry walked up to the door and knocked several times loudly.

A young-looking blonde vampire greeted Harry with a blank expression. This was someone who must be fairly new as Harry didn't recognize him.

"I'm here to see Frank and Loreley. They are expecting me." The vampire nodded once and led Harry down a sparsely lit hallway. Harry thought that the bare light bulbs above created an ambiance that felt like home. _I'm glad to be back, even if it's only for the night._

The blonde vampire rapt on a door and when he didn't get an answer, he led Harry into what Harry knew to be the meeting room where Frank took most of his guests. They moved towards a door behind a large desk and the vampire knocked lightly several times. Suddenly Frank's head popped out looking slightly miffed, but on seeing Harry his face broke out into a big grin.

"Harry!" Frank came forward and embraced Harry in a big hug, thumping him on the back several times, "You look great! Older than I expected." Frank's eyes were dancing with mirth.

"Aging potion. That's what was holding me up, it took several days to steal the ingredients and several more to brew it. But it worked, so here I am." Harry had a broad smile on his face. Frank was the closest thing that Harry had left to family and it felt good to be home.

"Right, well Loreley is back here too and is chomping at the bit to get all the good teenage gossip. How's puberty treating you?" Harry tried not to roll his eyes as they both left the young vampire behind and headed through the door behind the desk.

"It's hell. It was hell the first time from what I remember too. No wonder teenagers act so crazy, it's all the hormones I swear."

"Harry!" Loreley had been longing on one of the many floor cushions that were laid around the room. She got up and threw her arms around Harry's neck. "School children haven't been getting you down too much have they?" She leaned back and smiled at Harry.

"Not too bad. The teachers are worse than the students I swear. Being around Snape again is a lot different than I imagined it would be."

"Isn't he the one you named a son after?" Loreley smirked as she sat back down on a velvet floor cushion and made herself comfortable. She motioned for Harry to join her. Frank remained standing, leaning against the wall looking down on both Harry and Loreley.

"Third son's middle name. And I know, I know, let's not get into it. I'm finding that he's much more heroic dead than he is alive. It's insane what he can get away with saying to students. Even when it's not directed at me I have a hard time believing that what he does is permissible."

"As good as it is to see you, why exactly did you decide to come?" Frank pulled out a pack of cigarettes offered it to both Harry and Loreley who both took one. He lit his own cigarette with his index finger and then looked to Harry who was sprawled across several floor pillows that were stacked in such a way that made Harry look very comfortable.

"I heard some weird news and thought that I'd come and see what's going on with you guys. Heard Voldemort tried to recruit your coven again and that something went wrong. Now Dumbledore thinks there is some kind of mole in the Order. I don't know, so I thought I'd hear what you had to say. And well I just needed to get out of the castle. I'm starting to get stir crazy being stuck around children all day, every day."

Frank and Loreley shared a look before Frank spoke up. "They tried several weeks ago to sway us over to their side. Brought that Snape guy that is a spy for Dumbledore. They left with a portkey in the middle of the negotiations. Loreley may have said some things to jar them a little and joked around, but they shouldn't remember much anyway since she was smoking oblivious powder."

Harry hummed and took another drag off his cigarette. "I suppose it doesn't really matter. The Order needs to be strong if we don't want to have to deal with Voldemort ourselves. Snape's memories must be hazier than I thought if they misinterpreted things that badly."

Harry was about to say something when a sudden knock came on the door, "Le Stat, there are two Death Eaters here to see you." Frank exchanged looks with Harry and Loreley before leaving the room to go back into the meeting room.

"Did you guys know they were coming?"

"No idea. I haven't heard a word about more Death Eaters coming by."

"So what's the deal with your hair?" Harry motioned towards Loreley's white-blonde hair. It looked almost platinum blonde with slightly darker shades of blonde interspersed to give it a more natural look.

"Whatever is going on with this curse of yours is preventing me from changing my appearance magically. So in a last-ditch effort, I bleached my hair and then went to a muggle salon to have it fixed more naturally. This way no one will be able to finite my appearance either." Harry could see the logic in it, even if it wasn't the most flattering of hairstyles. They certainly didn't look identical anymore though. The blonde hair was so jarring on Loreley that Harry couldn't pay much attention to anything else.

"Blonde though, real-" Harry was cut off by loud voices on the other side of the door. He could hear Frank telling the guests in no uncertain terms what he would do to them if they didn't leave immediately. Harry and Loreley exchanged looks as the door burst open and Frank came in holding a child of about three or four. Frank looked livid.

"Why do you have a kid?" Loreley stood from her cushion and dusted herself off, peering at the child.

"Death Eaters went on a raid of a known muggleborn child that had been causing a lot of trouble for the Obliviator team lately." Then in a hushed voice added, "Killed his parents and gave us the child as a 'gift' to feed on."

"I guess they've heard the rumors that you told me about the last time I saw you?" Harry got up and peered at the child, who was a small, pudgy blonde boy that looked as calm as a toddler could look despite the situation. Harry wondered if they hadn't drugged him.

"They heard that I take orphaned children, they assumed it was for nefarious purposes, of course," there was a bit of resentment in Frank's voice.

"So are you going to raise him like the others?" Harry knew that Frank had a soft spot for unwanted children after what had happened to him.

"Of course," Frank gave a sad smile looking down at the child, "It's nothing that wasn't done for me. I don't turn them until they are seventeen or eighteen you know. I let them go to Hogwarts or Durmstrang or wherever they want to go and upon graduation, I turn them.

"I would turn them sooner if I had the ability to age them the way you were able to allow me to age, but I am no Master of Death." Harry thought back to when he had first met Frank when Frank was around seven and freshly turned. Without Harry's help, Frank would have been stuck in a child's body forever. It had been taxing work on Harry, but seeing Frank grow and thrive had been worth it. It felt good to know that Frank was paying it forward.

"You're doing a good thing, Frank," Harry vanished his cigarette butt wandlessly, "We'll be the family the boy needs."

oOo

"I can't believe they are canceling quidditch!" Ron's anger was palpable at the news that all student groups were to be disbanded.

Harry was actually quite relieved at the news. He knew it was coming and he was glad that he no longer had to go through the motions of quidditch practice and the OWLs study group.

"It's just for this year, next year Umbridge probably won't even be here. The position is cursed after all." Harry tried to be the voice of reason but was really just relieved that Ron was showing some emotion in contrast to the depressive state he'd been in for several months now.

"Harry, you don't really believe the position is cursed, do you?" Hermione joined in their conversation while buttering her toast.

Suddenly the Hall was filled with owls. A large brown owl headed toward Harry and dropped a letter beside Harry's plate. The owl promptly flew off. Since Harry didn't recognize the owl and wasn't expecting a letter, he ran a hand discreetly over the top of the letter to feel for curses. Only a heavy masking charm appeared to be in place. So Harry looked at the letter that was addressed to "Harry Potter" which made him a little nervous. Opening the letter it was blank. Sighing and knowing that he'd have to remove the masking spell before he could read it, Harry made a show of crumpling up the "blank letter" and then tucking it into his pocket for later.

"You should be careful with that letter, it sounds suspicious," Hermione said eating her toast.

"It's probably just a gag, it's blank and if it was going to hurt me I'm sure it already would have. I'll throw it away when I get near a bin."

"Oh, Hermione," Harry lowered his voice to a hushed whisper, "I spoke with Loreley. Next Hogsmeade weekend she's going to come to meet you and Ron. She wants to see Hogsmeade anyway so this is a good chance for her to do both." Harry secretly hoped that Loreley could pass as fully human for at least a few hours the coming weekend. He knew that she could when she put her mind to it, but she rarely cared enough to try.

"That's brilliant, Harry! How's she getting there?"

"I dunno, portkey I suppose," Harry knew good and well that she was apparating.

When breakfast was over, Harry slipped to the boy's bathroom to get a proper look at the letter. Concentrating hard, so as not to catch the letter on fire Harry undid the enchantment that disguised the contents of the letter. Recognizing the neat cursive script, Harry's stomach dropped. He took a deep breath and then read the letter.

_To the person possessing Harry Potter:_

_If you are reading this letter, then I was correct in my guess that you have been possessing the body of Harry Potter. As I am sure you know, the Dark Lord Voldemort has been hunting the Potter boy for some time now. I would not want to kill a potential ally and if you are using the kinds of magic involved in possessing an individual, then we certainly have common ground to work with. _

_I would like to arrange a meeting where we could discuss a mutually beneficial relationship between the two of us. If you do not respond to this letter shortly after reading, I will assume that you have no need for an alliance and will proceed accordingly._

_Sincerely,_

_The Dark Lord Voldemort_

Harry swore at the letter and ran his hand over it again. There were several tracking spells that he could feel now that had been hiding under the masking charm. Voldemort would know soon that he had read the letter and would be awaiting his reply. Harry lit the letter on fire using his middle finger and watched it burn. He wouldn't be replying. Now it was a waiting game to see what Voldemort would do.

oOo

The weather had been gradually getting colder and anyone could see that winter was steadily approaching. Luckily for Harry and his friends, the walk to Hogsmeade was not too terribly cold though Harry did appreciate wearing his heavy jacket.

"Where are we meeting her again?" Ron seemed to have a slight tremor in the cold, his old jacket didn't seem to be blocking out any of the crisp morning air.

"She is insistent that we go to Madam Puddifoot's." Harry grimaced though he understood the logic of meeting there. Only couples were allowed in, so if Snape or Dumbledore came by they would stick out like a sore thumb and give Loreley a headstart on leaving.

"So are you two, like - er - dating?" Harry's eyebrows shot up, he had not been expecting that question.

"No, no, she's like a sister to me. We work too well together to date." Harry felt a pang of sadness that this version Ron and Hermione could never really understand. How would he ever be able to explain it to them?

"Then why Madam Puddifoot's?" Hermione joined in on the conversation.

"I think she just wants some dessert and coffee in all honesty. She asked where she could get sugar and caffeine and it was the only place I knew of."

They had entered Hogsmeade and were now headed towards Madam Puddifoot's. Harry suddenly spotted Loreley's bright blonde hair and called out to her with a big wave. She turned around grinning and headed towards the trio.

"Hi, I'm Loreley!" She had a devilish smile on her face and her eyes seemed to be laughing at some untold joke. She shook hands with Hermione and Ron, grinning all the while.

"Right, well we should probably get to the cafe. Wouldn't want to have to wait too long for a table." Harry led the way, allowing Loreley to make small talk with Ron and Hermione. Once in the cafe, they waited on a table for four. All of the pink in the cafe left Harry's eyes watering. There were few places that he despised more than a frilly tea shop.

"So what exactly have the two of you been learning?" Hermione asked in a hushed voice.

Harry broke in before the conversation could get too out of hand, "Let's get seated first. It will give us a little privacy."

Finally, the waitress walked them back to a table near a corner. Harry was thankful that they seemed to be seated away from everyone else. He tried to cast a quick _muffliato _but his wand just shot out a small fireball. Harry decided not to worry further with itand they all got situated.

"Okay, now we are good to talk," Harry gave a meaningful look to Loreley, hoping that she would keep passing for human throughout this short meeting.

"I just wanted to meet you, you see because we have been very concerned about Harry after all he went through at the end of last year. You know, stuff like that can have an effect on a person." Hermione sounded as if she had been practicing this speech in her head for some time now. Harry only hoped that the conversation went in such a way as to satisfy Hermione's curiosity and not feed it more.

Loreley folded her arms across the table and leaned on them, giving her a casual look. "So what did you want to know?" Loreley gave a toothy grin.

"What have you and Harry been learning? What is Frank like?" Hermione stopped herself when Ron nudged her with his elbow.

"She can only do so many questions at a time, Hermione." Ron looked back down at his hands on the table and then looked up at Loreley again.

"Well, Frank is Frank. He has a thing for unwanted children." Loreley paused and then hastily commented based on Ron and Hermione's face, "Not like that! What I mean is, he was unwanted as a child so he takes in orphans and helps them. But he knew that Harry was going to Hogwarts so he wasn't going to be repetitive, right? He teaches us stuff that we wouldn't learn at school and lets the school teach Harry what he needs to know. I'm fully homeschooled by him so he teaches everything to me." The waitress brought out their drinks and took their order.

"So what types of magic is it?" Hermione seemed keen on figuring out this mysterious curriculum.

"A little bit of this and a little bit of that. It's not like he's teaching us 'Necromancy 101', he just teaches us things that he thinks we need to know as we need to know it. We move at our own pace. And honestly, Harry hasn't gotten too far because he's only home in the summ-" Loreley cut her sentence short when she noticed Harry staring at the front entrance. Snape was arguing with the waitress at the front about being able to come into the tea shop without being a 'couple.'

"Well, well looks like I've overstayed my time here." Loreley got up and gave a little bow to Harry and then to Ron and Hermione.

"But we've barely gotten to talk!" Hermione looked put out and nervous looking at Snape at the front of the shop.

"Well, maybe another time then. Toodle loo," And with that Loreley exited through the kitchen and around the back of the building.

oOo

The Dark Lord Voldemort stood in front of his inner circle flanked by a blond man and woman on either side of him. Once Voldemort felt that everyone was present, he began his speech.

"My friends, my followers, my most loyal servants. You and I have known since the beginning that we were destined by Fate and aided by Chaos to achieve our goals. But here friends, here I have brought you proof!" At this Voldemort stepped back and motioned to the two blondes who were smiling widely with unnatural, manic eyes. The crowd around him remained silent though it felt as if everyone had taken a collective breath. Time seemed to freeze.

"Here we have proof, our mission is so compelling, so necessary, so needed that Fate and Chaos have come to _us!_ They stand here before you, to tell you, to tell us that they want us to succeed so badly that the very Tapestry of Fate and the Globe of Chaos have been used in favor of our goals. But they are no longer just our goals, they are the Gods' goals as well!

"But think not that this will be an easy battle, Fate, and Chaos brings us news that Death and Time are working together to prevent our goals from coming to pass. But who better to fight Death than the one who has outsmarted death himself? Who better to fight Time than the one to whom time means nothing.

"Together with your help, we will fight the noble fight and defeat Death and Time once and for all. And we will all stand victorious. Tell me, my brothers and my sisters, are you ready to defeat Death?" Cheers and yells broke out from the crowd of Death Eaters and filled the silent night.


End file.
